How has the improved health of UNCF helped black colleges and universities?
One of our major roles is to provide operational assistance and raise money for black private colleges. We’ve doubled the amount of unrestricted gifts we’ve made during that time. Do you believe that scholarships are help enough for minority students? Should philanthropy also focus on getting needy students prepared for college? We ought to do both. There’s a lot being done on the front end, but that’s largely a public-sector responsibility. My concern is that if you push philanthropy in there, then you let the public sector off the hook. All the philanthropy in the world can’t do anything to make up for the public K-through-12 programs we have here. Philanthropy can support model and experimental programs that spur innovation and change. But we’ve got to get the public sector up to the plate to deal with preschool and K through 12. They have to do a better job. We have to keep arguing for that. I believe philanthropy should deal with higher education. A lot of kids have done everythin
