The University of the Virgin Islands has achieved an alumni giving rate of 52.49 percent for fiscal year 2014 — which is the highest alumni contribution rate of any Historically Black College and University in the nation, according to the university.
UVI President David Hall made the announcement on Wednesday, Oct. 22, during an alumni celebration on the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix.
“We are number one,” Hall said. “There is no HBCU that has numbers like this. If you go outside the HBCU realm, there are very few institutions that go beyond 52 percent," UVI President David Hall said during the alumni celebration.
According to the university, when Hall arrived in 2009 the alumni contribution rate was 6 percent. UVI first sought to substantially increase its alumni giving rate in 2012, with the “50 for 50” challenge. UVI alumni made history with a 42 percent alumni giving rate that year, which was a 223 percent increase from previous years. As a result, UVI’s alumni received the 2013 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Alumni Association of the Year award. In 2013, UVI launched the “First to 50” challenge, and UVI’s alumni reached an alumni giving rate of 51.73 percent.
“If the alumni feel that the institution has assisted them in achieving their dreams, then they give back to the institution,” Hall said in a statement. “When alumni believe that the institution is continuing to invest in students and doing a very good job nurturing the next generation, then they give back. That is why it is used as a measure of where the institution stands.”
UVI Annual Giving and Alumni Affairs Director Linda Smith has headed up the alumni contribution effort for the past several years. She joined UVI in 2008, when the alumni giving rate was at 4 percent.
“As the only HBCU in the Caribbean, the community has rallied around initiatives and campaigns and they have provided us with support — helping us to reach and maintain our historic goals,” Smith said.
Alumni throughout the Eastern Caribbean region under the leadership of UVI’s Dedicated Alumni Recruitment Teams and those in the United States mainland played a significant role in this accomplishment, she said.
“To everyone who believes in paying it forward or giving back, we thank you for believing and making a difference in the lives our students. This is our hometown university,” Smith said.
“First to 50 Champions Back in the Winner’s Circle” was selected as the fiscal year 2014-2015 alumni challenge theme. The 2015 challenge is the most important, as the university must maintain three consistent years of 50 percent or greater for the historic record to be officially noted within the annals of history, Smith said. The new theme was selected as part of a contest. UVI alumna Lorna Chesterfield, class of 1994, won two tickets to see Kirk Franklin perform at the Reichhold Center for the Arts on Feb. 7, for her winning submission. Mary Jo Williams won a copy of UVI’s commemorative book “Proud We Are,” and Fiola Alexander, class of 1992, received a customized UVI mug in the contest.
