Aminta H. Breaux, the 10th president of Bowie State University, shared insights on the school’s recent capital campaign. The responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
U.S. News: How important are endowments in the long term for student success and access, particularly for HBCUs?
Aminta H. Breaux: Endowments are critically important to the long-term success and sustainability of higher education institutions, particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
- An endowment represents long-term financial stability, a nest egg that allows an institution to weather economic uncertainty while continuing to invest in students, faculty, innovation and opportunity.
- For generations, many other universities have benefited from large endowments that compounded over decades, even centuries. HBCUs, on the other hand, have often carried out extraordinary missions with far fewer financial resources.
- The growing financial need of students and families makes private philanthropy and endowment growth more important than ever. With increased private giving, we are now positioned to help to close affordability gaps and make a college education more accessible.
What excites me most is what this means for the future. The Bowie State endowment is now positioned to support academic programs in fields that may not even exist today.
U.S. News: The “BSU Bold” campaign raised more than double its original goal. How did the university build momentum so that the initial $25 million gift from MacKenzie Scott acted as a catalyst for other donors?
Courtesy of Bowie State University
Breaux: Bowie State ultimately raised $128.5 million after launching the campaign with an initial goal of $50 million, and approximately 90% of those funds have already been collected.
U.S. News: What lessons have you learned from this comprehensive campaign and its impact on the university that you would share with other institutions?
- We modernized our fundraising strategy by focusing on best practices, strengthening infrastructure and prioritizing high-impact engagement opportunities.
- We concentrated on expanding access to transformational philanthropists and sharing a compelling story about Bowie State’s momentum, mission and measurable impact.
- We celebrated our philanthropic partners and demonstrated the impact of their investments in tangible ways so that each major gift helped create a pathway for the next.
- As momentum continued to build, we raised the campaign goal from $50 million to $75 million. Then, with only two months remaining in the campaign, Ms. Scott made an additional $50 million investment in Bowie State. That extraordinary gift affirmed the strategic choices we had made to focus on endowment growth, long-term sustainability and student success.
U.S. News: What lessons have you learned from this comprehensive campaign and its impact on the university that you would share with other institutions?
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Breaux: One of the most important lessons is that HBCUs can no longer rely solely on tuition revenue and public funding to sustain their missions into the future.
- Those revenue streams remain critically important, but long-term institutional viability also requires significant philanthropic investment and a serious commitment to endowment growth.
- HBCUs have always delivered extraordinary outcomes despite operating with far fewer resources than many of our peer institutions. Yet transformational philanthropy is still relatively new for many HBCUs.
Another important lesson is that philanthropy flourishes through authentic relationships and trust.
- People invest in institutions when they believe in the mission, the leadership and the possibility of meaningful change.
- We worked diligently to communicate outcomes, celebrate progress and remain focused on the transformative role Bowie State University plays in expanding access, developing talent and strengthening communities.
Most importantly, this campaign reinforced my belief that HBCUs must think boldly about the future. The next chapter requires us to build the financial strength necessary not only to survive but to lead, innovate and thrive for generations to come.
