Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Belles are ringing


Well, I have some extra primo good news to relay—Bennett College, the historically black women’s college in High Point, N.C., announced yesterday that it met its goal of raising $5M by 1 February, so it retains its accreditation.

Yay!

Actually—they blew their goal away and raised $8.2M as of Monday. Financial stability was the one standard they’d failed to meet in December, so they should be good to go for generations to come. More than 11,000 donors contributed, ranging from $5 from some folks to big gifts from musicians, entertainers and others. Churches, sororities and fraternities held fund raisers. The CEO of Papa John’s gave $500,000; High Point University contributed $1M.

I love the way people rallied around Bennett. When I heard their history last month I was inspired by the multiple stories of Bennett Belle sisterhood, and I felt I needed to be a part of that community. I’ve spent the last few weeks watching the campaign on Twitter and worrying about whether they’d hit their goal.

And now I’m relieved and proud to be able to say I #StandWithBennett. I had a little slurp of Champagne last night to celebrate. I hope that's okay, on account of them being connected to Methodists and all.



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