What was the relationship like between the UNCF and the Rockefeller family?
A. The Rockefeller family is notorious for its heavy-handed involvement in any of the relationships that they have with their donees. What’s interesting is you definitely see the early black college presidents who were active in the UNCF fighting them for equality, you see them speak out, but you also see the frustration that they have with these white donors who really won’t let them do that much. All of the names on the incorporation papers were all Rockefeller employees and they were white. For example, the person who managed the day-to-day activities of the office, Betty Stebman, was white. There was the chair of the national campaign every year who was always a Rockefeller associate, and that person was involved in every decision that was being made. Not that there’s anything wrong with being white, but I thought this would be a black organization. One of the most jarring things that I found was, up until Vernon Jordan became president of the UNCF in the 1970s, the black members o
