The “School of the Month” recognition will make FAMU the
first of 11 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) slated to
receive scholarship dollars for its students through the foundation’s Hercules
Scholarship Program in 2014.
In addition to the Hercules Scholarship, FAMU has also been
selected to partner with the Tom Joyner Foundation in a fundraising campaign,
which kicks off on the first day of the New Year. During the campaign, 100
percent of funds raised by the foundation on behalf of FAMU will be sent
directly to the university. Assistance from the foundation will also be
available throughout the year to support the university’s initiatives to ensure
its sustainability.
“We’re proud to have Florida A&M as our January ‘School
of the Month,’” said Tom Joyner, founder and chairman of the Tom Joyner
Foundation. “FAMU has a wonderful legacy and a rich tradition of preparing
students to become our future teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists,
politicians and business leaders.”
The Hercules Scholarship is designed to assist male students
with offsetting college expenses and to encourage them to complete their
college education. The scholarship can be utilized for tuition, books and
on-campus living.
The Hercules Scholarship has significant meaning on FAMU’s
campus, as its namesake, the late Hercules Joyner, who is Tom Joyner’s father,
graduated from the former Florida A&M College (FAMC) with a Bachelors of
Science in chemistry. From FAMC, he went on to participate in the Tuskegee
Airmen training program, embarked on a career in accounting, and served the
Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Ala. for most of his career.
“We look forward to our students receiving the Hercules
Scholarship to continue his legacy of ‘excellence with caring,’” said Thomas
Haynes, FAMU’s vice president for university advancement.
The university will release the names of the five
scholarship recipients in January.
Corresponding with the announcement of the scholarship
recipients on his radio show, Joyner will also use the month of January to
promote FAMU to his listening and online audiences and challenge them, along
with FAMU alumni, supporters and corporate sponsors, to log on to the
foundation’s website to donate an amount of their choice to the university. The
foundation will also make available offline donation options, such as checks
and payroll deductions for specified government employees. Donations toward the
campaign will be accepted towards the campaign through December 2014.
The Tom Joyner Foundation/School of the Month campaign will
coincide with the university’s National Alumni Challenge Campaign. According to
Haynes, the Alumni Challenge will also kick-off in January and is designed to
encourage alumni to increase their charitable efforts toward the university,
with the goal of making FAMU the No.1 HBCU in the nation in regards to alumni
giving. Haynes is hoping to reach a goal of at least 25,000 donors from around
the country in 2014.
According to Haynes, working with the Tom Joyner Foundation
to increase scholarship dollars and alumni giving helps to give the university
an extended reach.
“The decline in state and federal resources have created an
imperative for the university to raise more scholarship support,” Haynes said.
“It is important to tap every network possible, and Tom Joyner has been a proven partner in helping to raise
awareness and support for FAMU.”
In 2008, FAMU also held the honor of being named a “School
of the Month” by the foundation. During that year, alumni and supporters
rallied together and raised more than one million dollars, breaking the record
for the most money raised by an HBCU under the School of the Month Program.
Founded in 1998, the Tom Joyner Foundation has raised more
than $60 million to help keep students enrolled in black colleges and universities
and has directly assisted more than 29,000 students and 100 HBCUs.