HBCU Livingstone College Receives 7th $1M Donation From Anonymous Donor

Livingstone College in North Carolina received another $1 million donation. It’s the seventh donation of this amount to be given in just seven months by an anonymous donor. It marks the most significant monetary gift received by the HBCU in its history, according to Black Enterprise .

The first donation was made during the school’s fall 2023 homecoming celebration. Meanwhile, the second was announced during Livingstone’s 145th Founder’s Day program in February, according to WCNC .

The unrestricted donations will help with renovations and new equipment for students. The school hopes these investments will help boost recruitment and overall retention.

“We have to roll up our sleeves and make the business case for supporting a private HBCU, so that’s what we’re doing,” Livingstone College President Anthony J. Davis said in June, according to Queen City News . “When you think about it though buildings and grounds become recruiting and retention tools.”

The news comes as Davis spearheads a $30 million campus revitalization project to be completed in five phases. Phase one is underway and will prioritize new residence halls and a cafeteria. New infrastructure is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Livingstone College has also launched a biomanufacturing training program as part of the Biden Build Back Better Initiative, which aims to help underrepresented populations in North Carolina, according to The Herald . The HBCU received $1 million in laboratory equipment as part of the initiative.

In 1879, Livingstone College was founded as Zion Wesley Institute with “the purpose of training ministers in the Cabarrus County town of Concord, North Carolin.”