The University of Washington and the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity are pleased to announce the Black Opportunity Fund has established its first endowment through an anonymous donor’s generous gift of $300,000.
The Black Opportunity Fund was established last year to acknowledge the harm that systemic racism has on the Black community and to fund a strategic agenda that meets immediate and ongoing needs of our Black students, faculty and staff. The establishment of an endowment marks a major milestone for the fund, allowing for consistent, dependable support in perpetuity.
The donor has chosen to be anonymous, recognizing that the focus should be on the impact of this fund. After reading a column in 2019 by then Seattle Times Diversity Editor Tyrone Beason, who noted “empathy makes the other our neighbor,” they were moved to make a gift to support the Black community at the University of Washington. In light of current events with the COVID-19 virus and the ongoing physical violence towards Black people by the police and others, they chose to make an endowment gift to the University’s newly-formed Black Opportunity Fund. It is their hope that this seed money for the Black Opportunity Fund will encourage further giving and community support.
“Many members of our generous community have stepped forward in support of enhancing the campus experiences for the UW Black campus community,” said Rickey Hall, UW’s Vice President for Minority Affairs & Diversity and University Diversity Officer. “Establishing an endowment signals that we are not just doing this work for the moment. Addressing systemic racism is not a short-term effort. It is something that we at the university should be working on every day. We are fortunate to have a generous supporter step forward in this way.”
Contribute to the endowment here. For further information and other ways to support OMA&D please contact Suzanne Sullivan, Director of Development, OMA&D, at slsulliv@uw.edu.