As Bennett College Faces Loss of Accreditation, High Point U. Steps In With $1-Million Donation

With hours to go until Bennett College hits its deadline to raise $5 million and save its accreditation, High Point University, nearby in North Carolina, announced that it would donate $1 million to the campaign.

Bennett, one of two remaining women-only historically black colleges and universities, announced in December that its accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges, would rescind its accreditation, citing financial instability, after having placed it on a two-year probation.

Bennett appealed the decision but faced the daunting task of raising $5 million by February 1. The accreditor had set a deadline of February 4 for Bennett to submit a brief appealing the decision.

High Point’s donation brings the campaign to $4.8 million. High Point’s president, Nido Qubein, said in a live-streamed news conference on Friday evening that his university was challenging others to make donations to reach the goal.

“I have been very impressed with the number of alumnae, students, and human beings who, when they understood Bennett is in a moment of need, responded by the thousands,” Qubein said. “We as a neighbor school cannot just stand by. High Point University is proud to stand with Bennett College.”

Fund-raising efforts involved a national social-media campaign that drew support from alumnae, celebrities, and local organizations in the Greensboro, N.C., area. Bennett and High Point University are located about 20 miles apart, and both are affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, Bennett’s president, said at the news conference that Qubein had contacted her within hours of the accreditor’s decision, to see how High Point could help.

High Point faculty members, in a vote on Friday, agreed with the decision to financially support Bennett.

High Point’s donation is a show of support not often seen in higher education. Bennett officials have emphasized that the college would need the help of both HBCUs and predominantly white institutions to reach its fund-raising goal. (The nation’s only other women-only HBCU is Spelman College.)

“In your toughest times, you know who your friends are,” said Dawkins. “High Point University has been a dear friend to us.”

Bennett officials are scheduled to meet with the accrediting agency on February 18.

The college will hold a news conference at noon on February 4 to announce the results of its effort to raise the funds needed to proceed with the appeal.

Zipporah Osei is an intern at The Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @zipporahosei, or email her at zipporah.osei@chronicle.com.