Entrepreneurial Appetite
Entrepreneurial Appetite is a series of events dedicated to building community, promoting intellectualism, and supporting Black businesses. This podcast will feature edited versions of Entrepreneurial Appetite’s Black book discussions, including live conversations between a virtual audience, authors, and Black entrepreneurs. In this community, we do not limit what it means to be an intellectual or entrepreneur. We recognize that the sisters and brothers who own and work in beauty salons or barbershops are intellectuals just as much as sisters and brothers who teach and research at universities. This podcast is unique because, as part of this community, you have the opportunity to participate in our monthly book discussion, suggest the book to be discussed, or even lead the conversation between the author and our community of intellectuals and entrepreneurs. For more information about participating in our monthly discussions, please follow Entrepreneurial_ Appetite on Instagram and Twitter. Please consider supporting the show as one of our Founding 55 patrons. For five dollars a month, you can access our live monthly conversations. See the link below:https://www.patreon.com/EA_BookClub
Entrepreneurial Appetite
Dr. Gregory Vincent on HBCUs and Philanthropic Impact
We're thrilled to bring you an engaging conversation with Dr. Gregory Vincent, President of Talladega College. His story is one steeped in philanthropy and mentorship, born out of values his parents instilled in him during his upbringing. He shares how these values have not only influenced his personal life but also guided his professional journey. We delve deep into the history of affirmative action in higher education, drawing on landmark cases like the Bakke decision of 1978 and the Fisher vs. University of Texas case.
Talladega College, a historic institution that's been open to all since 1867, serves as a symbol of social mobility and inclusivity. We wander through its rich history, paying tribute to some of its influential presidents. The emphasis is on their contributions to the college's philanthropic initiatives and how their efforts reflect Talladega College's commitment to inclusion and equity. As we explore the college's impact, we also unearth valuable lessons on creating genuine diversity that predominantly white institutions can learn from.
As the conversation rolls on, we reflect on the power of strategic philanthropy, the importance of pride in one's alma mater, and the potential of board memberships to drive diversity. Dr. Vincent’s inspiring story unfolds, highlighting the enduring influence of generational philanthropy and the role of faith-based institutions within the Black community. We also delve into the power of young people in movements and the efforts undertaken by institutions like Talladega College and Morehouse to empower the next generation of leaders. Join us for an insightful discussion on the intersection of philanthropy, diversity, and Black leadership.
What's good everyone. I'm Langston Clarke, founder and organizer of Entrepreneurial Appetite, a series of events dedicated to building community, promoting intellectualism and supporting black businesses. I want to take the time and introduce you to two brothers who have had a significant impact on my life. The first is our featured guest, dr Gregory Vincent, who is the president of Talladega College, and the second is Dr Anthony Hevin, a vice president with Graham Pelton, where he helps universities with their fundraising strategies and success.
Speaker 1:Before I hand over to Anthony, I'm thinking about a conversation that I pre-recorded with Tyrone McKimley-Freeman, who is an expert in philanthropy and black communities, and he wrote this book about Madame CJ Walker and how the way that she lived her life exuded a philanthropic spirit.
Speaker 1:She wasn't someone who was rich or wealthy, who waited until the end of her life to give all her wealth away. She was giving herself away in the process, and so to me, that is true of Dr Gregory Vincent, who is joining us here today, because a lot of people don't know this, but Dr Vincent was part of a trio of black men at the University of Texas at Austin, who were very intentional about recruiting and supporting black males to get their PhDs. In addition to his own philanthropy. He has lived the life of a philanthropist by pouring into other people and my ability to get my doctorate and be supported and funded. The testament to that, and the same is true of Dr Anthony Hevin, but I think more importantly, is the enduring family of 20 to 25 black men, who all came from UT Austin and got their PhDs, and so, without further ado, I'm going to hand it over to Dr Anthony Hevin to hear our conversation.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, dr Clark. I want to reiterate everything you said about Dr Vincent. So one, of course. I know you're an amazing philanthropist and you created this pathway and I was a part of the pathway to the doctorate. But on the personal note, I feel like this is a full circle moment as your mentee and doctoral advisor and now the consultant working with you as a part of our grandp wh since the invitation, because I got to engage with two of my guys.
Speaker 3:I shared with you in the practice session how very proud I am of both of you and your entire cohort of incredible graduate PhD students who came in with the mission. You worked hard, you persevered, you thrived and you left an indelible mark on the University of Texas, at Austin and higher education, and so I could not be more proud and to see Dr Clark work at UTSA, gain tenure, for you to be engaged as one of the leading voices in philanthropy, and we're so grateful that you are engaging, partnering with Talladega to meet our goals. So I just could not be more pleased. Just by introduction, I always give credit to my parents and I just want to take a moment as we start to give thanks to Cyril and Gloria Vincent, the only bittersweet thing about taking on the Talladega position. It was the first time in my entire life that I made a decision without their love and care. My mother passed away in 2019 and my father in 2021. They were together for 70 years and were married for 65.
Speaker 3:And so I have to give a shout out to my parents and I've shared that my parents gave me three, and I'm going to add a fourth one and I'm going to do that going through of four priceless gifts. The first is unconditional love. The second was a love of reading Our home was filled with books and on my 16th birthday my father gave me the autobiography of Malcolm X and it changed my life. And the third was a church home where I could start my own journey of faith, and I'm going to come back to that in a moment. And the fourth one is they inculcated in me a culture of giving.
Speaker 3:So at my church home, st Philip's Episcopal Church of Harlem, I got confirmed at 13, baptized as an infant, and my parents said to me you are now a full fledged member of the church and you need to establish your own pledge and fulfill it and whatever feels good to you, you have to do that. So at 13, I had to start my journey of philanthropy and understand why and what that meant. And it wasn't like there was new money coming in, it was money that was already there. What it taught me is that being a generous giver. I saw how generous my parents were. They were frugal, they were a depression era, but they were so generous to the causes that were important to them and I saw that and so they didn't just say it, they definitely lived it in an important way. So I wanna thank them for all the things I wanna say we'll get incorporated in answering your questions.
Speaker 2:Awesome, Dr Vincent. What a wonderful way to kick off this discussion, thinking about that beautiful legacy. And my first question for you you actually started answering it. I want for you to define what philanthropy means to you and also give us a synopsis of your philanthropic journey. You just heard a sneak peek of it, so I wanna give you the space to do that.
Speaker 3:Philanthropy means giving freely and fully of yourself to advance the greater good. It means making a meaningful contribution to society and using your God-given talent, time and treasure to advance meaningful causes and, since we're talking about Black philanthropy, to advance the permanent interest of our people. Yes, yeah, I mean, as far as my philanthropy goes, I do. That is a dimension of me that's very important. I believe in to be a leader in philanthropy and the organizations that I serve. I've had the opportunity to serve as the CEO of two organizations One, sigma Pi Phi, the Dule, which is the oldest Greek letter Black organization, and served for term as Grand Sire, the CEO and chairman, and I gave a $100,000 gift to show that philanthropy was important. Kim and I made a similar gift $100,000 to Talladega to gain the show that we were making Talladega a philanthropic priority. I've had the opportunity to go to four great institutions Bronx High School of Science, hobart and William Smith Colleges, the Ohio State University and the University of Pennsylvania and I'm excited to share that I'm a lead donor at all four institutions.
Speaker 2:That is amazing, dr Vincent, and I love that you added the piece about our community and to your answer about philanthropy. And I want to dive in. I know we're about to have a great discussion and so, in light of the Supreme Court ruling, I went to an HBCU Stelman College and UT Austin right so that dual educational experience and we're seeing that the Supreme Court ruling, this anti-DEI legislation being proposed across the country. As a leader who built a premier DEI division DDC at UT Austin and that is now the president of HBCU, of course, talladega College, what is your perspective on these challenges and how we talk about the work of HBCUs and all organizations serving the marginalized communities? What is your perspective on that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, a couple of points. First, I didn't get a chance to fully brag on you, dr Heaven. You mentioned UT Austin. Of course you were the student body president at Stelman and I will tell you that your name and legacy just rings out and just I will tell you, being not far from Stelman, and they will tell you they love you there. So just know that and just as a testament to your outstanding preparation, of course, you came to us as a master's student, did a great job as a master's student, and you were the first PhD student that we admitted without any full-time experience, because we felt you had the maturity to take on that, that doctoral work. And you, of course, proved us right. So I wanted to get that shout out in.
Speaker 3:As you all know, in addition to being an academic leader, I've also served as a professor, so both in the law school and the College of Education, and held the WA Collogue Professorship at UT Austin. I had one of the honors of my career to serve as the spokesperson for the University of Texas in the Fisher versus the University of Texas case, where we were able to successfully argue that race could be used as one factor among many in achieving diversity in a college class and whether it was University of Texas, harvard, university of Michigan, we were able to successfully argue that case. That culminated in that that was a culmination of a long line of cases going back to 1978 in the Bakke decision, and we, as you know you were in my class, you know we kind of traced that history of affirmative action from Bakke in 1978, you know up through the official decision. And what I'll tell you is that affirmative action was and is a modest yet effective action to provide access to elite higher education. It won't surprise you that this started during the Civil Rights Movement and there was great deals of protests, both on college campuses I would encourage people to read Dr Eddie Cole's book about Black protests on college campuses and talk about the struggle of that and one of the most provocative scenes as a bunch of brothers and sisters taking over the administration building at Cornell University in 1968. And so, in my opinion, this was a result of student protests, this was a result of the Civil Rights Movement, Civil Rights legislation to provide access, because the reality is that there's been some recent reports from Forbes and others that access to elite schools matter. This disproportionate number of persons, virtually all in the Supreme Court. The disproportionate number of CEOs, professionals, go to elite schools. I'll be blunt, I think my career accelerated, having gone to the University of Pennsylvania surely yours at the University of Texas. So there's no question that it makes a difference, and so this access becomes very important.
Speaker 3:So what is change? What changed from 2016 to 2023? I mean, it's a simple public policy, political adage, that elections have consequences. And then let me just be very clear that five of the nine justices on that currently sit on the Supreme Court were appointed, were nominated, I'm sorry, and confirmed by presidents to, with President Bush to, and the other was in the previous administration. They lost the popular vote, so they were appointed by by presidents who lost the popular vote.
Speaker 3:So five out of nine. The second thing is that they were confirmed by a majority of senators that represent a minority of the US population. So we have to really begin thinking about the electoral college and the fact that elections have consequences. So, in my opinion, the only thing that really changed was the composition of the US Supreme Court. We also saw in the Dobs decision with reproductive rights. The previous president made it very clear that he was going to appoint conservative, just judges that were going to overrule things like reproductive rights and affirmative action, and they at the lower court level, and certainly at the Supreme Court, they did just that, and so that, to me, is really the biggest difference.
Speaker 3:I would also say, though and again not to brag on the University of Texas I really think we had a very, very strong, compelling case to show that race was one of several factors, and I think, as you will know, I also was part of the legal team that developed the strategy, and one of the things that we argued was that we faithfully followed the law, and this was a statistic that we really wanted to direct at Justice Kennedy, who is who wrote the majority opinion. There were 143 white students who were admitted to the University of Texas who had scores lower than Abigail Fisher, and there were 89 black students and Latino students that had higher scores than Abigail Fisher, that were that were denied, and so it really sent that case. I think that the challenge with Harvard is that their numbers never really seem to change, even with the demographic realities, and I think that hurt them. Just my own kind of legal, scholarly opinion. The other thing I would say is that this is a there's going to be an increased focus on legacy admissions and sports competition. The reality is, the two greatest ways to get into Ivy plus school is through legacy, meaning that if some member of your family attended and where you compete in a affluent sport like rowing, fencing and the like, and so those are much more predictive of admission than race, and in fact Justice Gourage kind of cited that as an issue, and so it'll be interesting to see. There's already a lawsuit challenging legacy admissions and we see some schools already moving away from it.
Speaker 3:The last thing I'll say and I know this is about philanthropy and, like you know, talladega has a rich tradition. We have, in my opinion, the best origin story in American higher education to see two former enslaved men go to the Freedmen's Conference at the American, sponsored by the American Missionary Association, and to have this faith inspired, mission vision to create an institution to educate generations of students to come. They as, as enslaved men, they help build the first building that wouldn't become the Talladega College and with support of the AMA, they bought the building right and have been at the forefront of educational excellence. Since 1867, talladega has has produced 22 college presidents. I'm not going to go into I mean, if we have time I'll go into it later but the thing that I wanted to kind of tie the connected dots is that Talladega was so renowned that there are a number of people that call it the Harvard of the South. I actually reject that. I said, well, maybe Harvard is a Talladega of the North, and one of the reasons why I reject that is because we have a modest endowment.
Speaker 3:As you know, harvard has a $64 billion endowment. They issued a report, I believe it was, last year, that said much of that wealth was built on the backs of enslaved black people. We know, at Georgetown they were able to stay afloat because they sold slaves down the river to Louisiana. And so these schools that are so renowned, they have this really, really tough history that they need to live up to. Of course, there are some that are trying to whitewash history, you know, and so I think it's really critical that we tell the full story. The Lantube is part of that because, as you know, it's it's narrative, it's telling stories, it's connecting people, passion and purpose right, so that becomes important. So that is a long-winded answer to your succinct question.
Speaker 2:Dr Vincent, you shared some, some great insight there. I must admit that I had a moment of gratitude because I am not in the hot seat today. I thought about it.
Speaker 2:A little nervous there, but we shared with us some, some brilliant insights.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I'll add to what you said is that, of course, we know philanthropy has been vital to HBCUs, especially considering the financial discrimination that our HBCUs have experienced, not just with the federal government, but also with private corporations and foundations, and so we know the value of philanthropy for our institutions. And one of the things that I lose to our next question is when we think about. We know that in this current era, some funders really value DEI and they want to contribute to support HBCUs and other organizations that value diversity and promote it and really invigorate society with the mission. But we also know that some other funders value HBCUs that can communicate. How, as they say, the rising ties lifts all ships. How do HBCUs contribute to society generally and how does it really? How is it beneficial to the overall society supporting HBCUs? So I want to know a little bit more about how you and your role as the president are articulating the impact of Talladega College on the region and society at large.
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, Dr Heaven, you have been so helpful in helping us shape that message and so, to your point, I have whether it's a one minute elevator, you know, talk or, you know, a scholarly presentation certainly can make the case, and so I'll do something in between those two, right? So, as I mentioned, you know, talladea College has the best origin story. We're one of a handful of schools in all of American higher education that has always been open, regardless of race, creed, gender, differing ability, faith, tradition, and so we have always been inclusive. You are good friends with my son, raymond, and Raymond is a 2021 graduate of Morehouse College, and I remember, right before the pandemic, I was with him in Atlanta and I said what do you like most about Morehouse? And he said the diversity. Wow, and he and you know he, you know Raymond he said well, controlling for race and gender. You know, my classmates are diverse, and it really was a powerful moment for me to talk about the in-trug group diversity of black people, right, and even in a school that's predominantly black and all male, there's still great diversity within those groups. And whether that's faith tradition, as you know, our youngest you know Cameron is started started his roommate practices a different faith right. So you know, it's just a, it's just a very important distinction. But you know, getting back to Talladega, you know my case is one that we have always been open. We've always been about being inclusive and providing opportunities, and whether it was to newly free persons or today, where 73% of our students are first generation low income Pella eligible, we are 16th in our class around social mobility, taking students where they are and then moving them to the next level, we have been a real leader in women in science.
Speaker 3:One of those 22 college presidents is Dr Jewell Plummer Cobb, class of 1944. She was a renowned cancer researcher and became the first black chancellor of Cal State, fullerton. What's unique about our 44 college presidents? And I'll mention one other? Well, two others Dr Herman Long he concurrently served as president of Talladega and UNCF, which is the fundraising arm for 37 private institutions. He was the one who coined the phrase a mind is a terrible thing to waste. And Dr William Harvey. And Dr Long was class of 35. Dr Harvey was class of 1961. He is our most generous living donor. So in all three cases, these persons have given their time, talent and treasure and served as leaders in our philanthropic efforts, and so, even while leading other institutions, they have given back. Because of the generosity of Dr Jewell Plummer Cobb, we've named both our honors program and our first inaugural chair in academic excellence after her. So again that generosity has paid off.
Speaker 3:Our case is that we are a positive, compelling force for the greater good In Social Justice. We were the first. We had the first NAACP chapter in Alabama, one of our great alums off the shores, partnered with Thurgood Marshall to advance Justice with the Lead Council in desegregating the University of Alabama. We have educators. One of the great publishers in American history are John and Eunice Walker Johnson. Eunice Walker Johnson is a class of 1935. And she was instrumental, as you know, in establishing Jett and Ebony. In fact, I don't know of a family in my neighborhood didn't have either Jett and or Ebony on their table. And so we've produced these incredible people that have made just an indelible mark on society. And so Teledige today is a proudly, historically black college university. But we open our doors to all, and whether it's from the motherland, whether it's from Europe, whether it's from South America, the Caribbean, we are open to all and we're about educational excellence and living up to the faith inspired mission of our founders.
Speaker 2:That is a wonderful explanation, dr Vincent. It's something you said really resonated with me because I've been thinking as of lately how much of the HBCU playbook that predominantly white institutions can learn from in terms of inclusion, in terms of academic success. I remember when I was a student at Stilman College, intrusive advising was just the way they did advising right. It wasn't something special, it wasn't a part of a student success initiative, it was just the way we operate it, and we know that there are HBCUs that have increasingly welcomed other populations of students. A great example is in Austin, texas, there's a growing population of Latinx students at HT, etc. And so, in a lot of ways, predominantly white institutions, in light of the Supreme Court decision and this anti-DEI legislation that we're seeing across the nation, can learn from us. Do you agree that that's an accurate assessment?
Speaker 3:I heartily agree with that. Almost 10% of our student population is Latino, hispanic, so that's something, and the thing I like, dr Heaven, is that it happens organically, right. So I feel that there are students that are very interested and committed to coming to Talladega. As you know, because you were so involved with it, one of my biggest assignments at the University of Texas was to establish a Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence, and we had about 6 to 700 students, predominantly first generation, low income. One of the interesting things, as you know, those Longhorn scholars were not all black and they were not all Latinx right, there were a lot of students that came from different backgrounds right, so it was a very diverse group.
Speaker 3:One of the things we implemented was taking the best of the HBCU experience. We also learned things from community colleges. You know Hispanic serving institutions and how do you create those best practices for student success? Because the goal was for these students, who were essentially terrific students, but there was a sense that they needed some extra support and the goal was to make sure that they met the four-year graduation of their peers and what we know and you were involved with, for example, the great intellectual entrepreneurship initiative started by our friend, dr Rick Naturewicz, you know we were able to provide enrichment for these students to study abroad, to China and to South Africa, right? So these students, after several cohorts, not only met but exceeded their peers.
Speaker 3:And when we're talking about this, let's be clear, their first rare persistence rate was at 95 plus percent and their four-year graduation rate was 70 percent, right? So I'm just going to put some real numbers on that. And you know, and implementing that HBCU culture, that experience, is something that's really important. And you know the thing you kind of hit on it the thing that I'm so impressed with, with my faculty and my staff, is that they're not in it for the money, they're not in it for the fame, they're because they love these students and they take great care in reaching out to these students and they're here because that's where they want to be. We have a number of faculty, a number of staff who could be anywhere, and they choose to be at Talladega, and I take that very seriously and it's my job to make sure that they have the resources that they need, and that's where philanthropy comes in.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I echo what you said about LCAE. I remember students who weren't even officially enrolled in any of our or involved in any of our programs would come and hang out at the center because they felt like it was a place of inclusion. Absolutely, they felt supported by the staff.
Speaker 3:And, as you know, since I pay for their tuition, I shamefully use my children and examples. So, Greg, right. So my son who went to UT Austin. He was not in the program but boy, you would have thought he was because he was, you know, around there all the time.
Speaker 2:That's right. That's right. So you know, in that same vein, as we think about philanthropists, one of the things Dr Clark and I we talked about a couple of weeks ago is the fact that HBCUs when we're cultivating those corporate relationships, the longstanding businesses and corporations, are the ones that we more readily partner with. But how do you see younger and especially as we think about black owned businesses and younger philanthropists partnering with HBCUs, and how can we remove some of those barriers to those partnerships in order for those younger alums and those younger philanthropists to support their institutions in a meaningful way?
Speaker 3:Now, dr Heaven, you know my background, you know I grew up in New York City. I grew up, you know, growing up as a teenager. There's a start of hip hop, right, and you know that. You know that's a big part of my culture, right? So you know, no, no presentation is complete without me at least quoting a little bit of hip hop. So let me go to the prophet Jay-Z, and he talks about. He's not a businessman, he's a businessman, and what I appreciate that is that what I see in young people is this incredible spirit of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 3:You know, during my father's generation, as you know, my father was an electrical engineer and he worked his way up into the executive ranks. He had three employers. He worked with Sam, he for several years worked as an engineer with General Electric and then, for the bans of his career, served with the New York City Transit Authority. He got the pension, all that. Young folks ain't trying to do that, right, you know they might have three jobs in a year. So you know, that's a whole different, you know world, a different, you know mindset, and so what we need to do is cultivate that.
Speaker 3:The other thing is that we have to stop making assumptions about who can give, and I'll give you an example that I believe I've shared with you before. So at the University of Texas, we decentralized philanthropy, so vice presidents like myself and deans, we had our own portfolios as part of that billion dollar campaign, and so I was through the list and I saw a lot of folks that look like you and me, and you know our Latino brothers, who were not being stewarded by an executive name, that I knew had eight figure wealth, and I'll ring out her name. You know Bertha Saddamese, who, by the way, gave a seven figure gift to her other alma mater. She would got her master's at UT Austin. So I knew she had that, and we we worshiped at the same church, so I knew that she had that insight, and so I asked her one day.
Speaker 3:I said you know how come you don't give to UT off because she had fun marriage, now that she didn't like you know. And she said no one asked me. And there was one other person who had significant wealth who was not asked as well, and so what I realized was that that was a trend, that we were not asking these folks, and we made assumptions about what they were able and willing to give yes. So he was a real lesson in multicultural philanthropy. And let me just give you another shout out your dissertation and I was so honored to serve as your advisor and dissertation chair really continues to serve as a benchmark for so much of what we do. So in some ways I feel like I'm, you know, talking about my pay grade, but I'll just you know, talk to you, know my experience that we make assumptions about multicultural giving yes and at HBC use hey everyone, thank you again for your support of entrepreneurial appetite.
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Speaker 3:Both of my parents are public servants, but they accumulated wealth in a way that you would not look if you just did kind of a wealth simulator and all this other stuff, you wouldn't. They may or may not pop up, right, but giving, and we have so many people that you know established, you know solid middle upper middle class lives, and you know they have this wealth that we don't tap into and so you know we nickel and dime them as opposed to really asking them. What's your passion? What would you like to see? Talladega Well, you know your Talladega go. What's important to you? I will tell you.
Speaker 3:As you know, I went to predominantly white institutions and it's fascinating to me how zeroed in they are about my giving right and what questions to ask. What's important to me? As you know, I was a student-athlete in school and so kind of opening the door that way. And at the law school, they know that I was able to go to law school in a full scholarship and so how do we create the next Greg Vincent, right? So it was just very intentional about the giving and this started early in my tenure, right? It started like my five-year reunion right, fifth-year reunion. So it's just fascinating. Let me just tell you, they are cultivating me to. You know, I just celebrated my 40th reunion. You better believe they are about my 50th, right? They had locked in on the 40th and they're already stewarding that, and so we have to really think about how intentional we are being.
Speaker 3:The other thing is that, as you know, there's multiple ways to give. So, as people are growing their careers, why not bring some of these entrepreneurs back and connect with these young people? And that's an invaluable resource. One of our relatively recent grads, he's leading a team that's going we're going to take NASA to Mars. You know, he boy, just him having him on campus makes a huge difference. But I think the most important thing is that we have to assume that, just because there were two teachers right, because we kind of write teachers off, oh, they don't have a lot of money. Well, let me tell you, the studies tell you that one of the greatest concentrations of millionaires are public school teachers and, like my father, engineers right, it's the doctors that are heavily in debt. But I look at it, we got to reframe who we are. We have to meet folks where they are. I think institutions can help young Taladeans. So when I talk about supporting students. I also talk about young Taladeans, 10 years and less, and then the more that we can help them.
Speaker 2:You know, in year 2025, you know that's when they can really make a significant difference yes, Dr Vincent, I will tell you, it feels like a mini reunion right now because when you, when you started, when you made the hip hop reference, I thought about a conversation on a way to one of our mini panel sessions where you access our top five a hip hop and top five R&B groups of all time, and you may have frowned at some of my responses yeah, that's me brother, let me say something, man.
Speaker 3:I mean, you know someone who comes from Motown. I was very man. I'm gonna say that's the only one of the only times I was disappointed me. I'm like man, where'd you get this man?
Speaker 2:But not to get us too far off topic, you shared some gems there. So one of the things that we've seen they did a poll of the generations and what we know is that millennials actually, at higher percentages actually it was somewhere in the 70% range view themselves as philanthropists, right? So, whereas boomers had a much lower percentage in terms of how they view themselves and how they conceptualize themselves. And I've been telling clients who have said, hey, we know that we're shifting our focus to major gift donors, we're shifting our focus to boomers. I said don't sleep on the millennials, right, because one, they are your pipeline for the future, but two, we're in the middle of this great wealth transfer.
Speaker 2:I will tell you, at one of my former institutions I saw a young Allen alum who's in his 20s. He just made a major gift because, again, his grandparents left him a piece of their will and he wanted to honor them with that gift. I, one of my favorite philanthropy stories actually involves there was this gentleman who was a, you know, he worked at a plant for most of his life, never created any investment accounts on his own, he had whatever he had with the firm. But one day he was watching the UNCF on TV and he called in and he said, hey, I want to make a gift. And they said, okay, how do you want to make your gift? Had that conversation. He said I have cash and so where can I drop it off? He brought a you know, a substantial amount of cash to make this gift to the UNCF.
Speaker 2:And so we talk about those misconceptions of who can give, and you shared about your parents and their philanthropic journey. You know my grandmother, my great grandmother, always talk about how working class woman in the South who was a sharecropper, gave a significant amount of her income to the church and to the community, right. And so we know data backs up that Black folks specifically are philanthropic across all social classes. And when we think about that in this multicultural cultural narrative, how do you suggest we amplify those voices and those stories of Black philanthropists who are making an impact? Because historically we have minimized the voices?
Speaker 3:as a Dr Hibbert. You raised such a powerful point. You know we have to talk about the role of faith, faith-based institutions and the role in the Black community. You know better than anyone the. You know the unspeakable horrors that were inflicted upon our people, and it was the faith. It was faith that enabled us to not just survive but to thrive, and we're still grappling with that now. But I am so amazed at the role of faith. I know the role of faith that played in my life and that's why I always reflect on, you know, my journey of faith, starting at St Philip's Episcopal Church in Harlem and to see successful people. You know move, you know move forward, and so it's not a surprise at all that we give to sustain our churches.
Speaker 3:Now there's some interesting trends and I'm not that's for another day but I am it's clear that we are very philanthropic and we continue to give. I think, to be blunt, not to heaven. We have to do a better job of telling our story, meaning HBCUs, I think, the UNCF, the Thurgood Marshall Fund, I think, are really doing. Our former great friend and colleague, tamaria Perry, is there and you know we have to do an even better job of making the case for philanthropic support. I give Dr Michael Lomax a great deal of credit. You know we're about to embark on a billion dollar campaign to support our institutions, and so you know that's a really important, you know kind of step for us to get to that billion dollar mark across our institutions.
Speaker 3:I want to also pick up on a really critical point you made related to generational diversity. You know, in a number of institutions you know, let's take higher education you know you might have five and maybe even six generations of persons in the workplace and they have very different views of work, the meaning of work, what you should put into work. It's fascinating to me and some of the most interesting conflicts I had in the workplace were generational and the role of young people. You know, you know I'm not telling too much of Greg's business, but Greg works so that he can be an entrepreneur right, so to build the capital so he can do what he wants to do. And then, you know, since we're, you know, using children, you know another good friend of yours because of me, who's my daughter, class of 2014 at Spelman. She's been given since 2014.
Speaker 3:And I give Spelman a great deal of credit for developing a culture of giving, starting really early on, and they asked their alums, the alumna, to give $20 and 14 cents to, you know, to match their class. Because what you know and what we know is that if you get people to give one, you know, year in, year out basis, they're more willing to sustain. You know that, you know that that giving. And yet, as you know, spelman just finished up a $339 million campaign, right, and other examples as well, and so they're a great example. Shaw, through their annual day of giving, raised a million dollars in their third year. So there's great examples of success.
Speaker 2:Yes, dr Vincent, and I want to hone in on something you just said.
Speaker 2:When we think about you mentioned earlier your lovely wife Kim in your philanthropy, when we think about the nature of generational philanthropy and how we impart those values into our kids, I will tell you that my, my granddad I'm ashamed to admit this, but I think Spelman knows at this point, right when I graduated, I may or may not have given them the address to my grandparents' house, so they find me those first couple years after graduating from undergrad. But they sent a solicitation to my, to my grandparents' house and my granddad gave and I didn't find out until years later. So he told me that you know you seem to have had a good experience at Spelman and they asked for funding and I wanted to support you in that way. What is the value of having that generational approach to fundraising but also having a family oriented approach? I know that in a lot of ways we look at, you know, white center philanthropy. It centers around the white man right, but in a lot of people of color in our households we make collaborative philanthropic decisions.
Speaker 3:What a what a phenomenal point. So let me let me hit on a couple of great points, one of the things that we that didn't occur to me initially, so I want to be clear that this is not something I went into the door with. I'm very impressed with Morehouse and other institutions. We need to have a parent, and I say family, parent and family council. Some of the greatest gifts and I saw this at Howard and William Smith were from parents who did not attend the institution and grandparents. I mean transformational gifts. And so, to your point, you know, if your child, your grandchild, had a good experience, that's going to serve you well, and so that's something that we are now implementing at Talladega to have a parent council, and Ms Clark, april Clark, is going to help lead that effort. So I wanted to make that acknowledgement. You know the second thing that I would say, because I'm getting to a point where I'm thinking about you know, how do you, where do you want and how do you want to leave your legacy Right? What is that? What does that mean? What does that look like? And you know, you become reflective, right. You know what matters to you, what's important, how you want to not just impact this current generation, but generations to come. That's why, for me, you know, talladega has set this incredible legacy, because these two men, formerly enslaved men, put everything they had and built on their faith and we have this institution that's a over a century and a half old. I think about some of our enduring black organizations. You know, you or Sigma happen to be an alpha. Think about the young men. They were young, right? Young men, college students and they established these incredible organizations that are now over a century year old. I call them these genius moments, right. These moments where people have the courage, the faith, the tenacity to come together. What we know is that young people have been driving us for so long. We see photos of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass in their older days. John Lewis, these were young people. Dr King was 29 years old, right. It's just incredible to tell we got to tell these stories that we forget that much of this is a young person's movement.
Speaker 3:For what I need to do in my station at this point is encourage young people, which is why I'm exactly where I need to be to energize, support, develop these young people and develop them emotionally, spiritually, physically, so that they can lead a life of consequence and fulfill their God-given ability. We reinstituted chapel, so we had our first chapel and our great Dean of the Chapel, young 31, reverend Cameron Thomas. He read from Jeremiah 1 and talked about. He knew us even before we were formed in the womb. And so there's this powerful, this power in enthusiastically engaging our faith and I don't mean imposing organized religion, but there's something in you to say, and so many of the people that I admire. They talk about those moments. They talk about how they relied on their faith to move us forward, and I think that's what I see in our young people. That's what they're looking for and it's our job, my job, to make sure that they have the resources. We clear the deck right for them and they can flourish. That's right.
Speaker 2:So, before we turn it over to the audience for questions, I have one final question for you.
Speaker 2:I feel like this is my opportunity to put you on the spot with a random question.
Speaker 2:So, going back to Jeremiah, when we think about the, when we think about the next generation of HBCU leaders who are called to those positions and we know, again going back to something that we talked about at the start of the session, it is imperative for them to be philanthropic leaders and to be fundraiser and folks who articulate the mission and the vision in such a way that is impactful. We know that campaigns keep getting larger across higher education and fundraising isn't just about presenting this laundry list of, of course, priorities or ideas, but it's about having those big ideas that catalyze and inspire people for a larger vision. So, from your perspective, in your seat, you believe in mentorship. I'm a testament of that. We had Amry and, as Dr Clark mentioned earlier, this pipeline, this family of African-American men who are still supportive of each other. What would be your insights when you think about philanthropy and how to be a philanthropic president, a fundraising leader? As a president, what would be your key pieces of advice for that next generation of HBCU leaders who are emerging, you know.
Speaker 3:I am. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve as the 21st president of Talladega College. I believe one of the reasons that I was selected is that I have a proven track record of philanthropy and that was developed across, you know, throughout my career, but really crystallized at the University of Texas, at Austin. And, as I mentioned earlier, president Power has kind of decentralized philanthropy at UT and so I had to kind of raise money on my own. I have to tell you, that was an anxious moment for me because I'm like man, I feel like I'm going to be a used car salesman, right, and I realized that, as I mentioned earlier, what my job was was to partner passion and purpose, right, and so being. And so I found myself really doing a lot of work around what's important to you, what's passion, you know what connects you and, even if it's hostile, what you know what is it, because, as you know, there's some of that with some of our alums. So that was, that was a huge skill set that I developed. I felt for me it was like I was thrown into the deep end, right, and I had to learn to swim and I knew I had some great support, but the reality is, I kind of had to learn it on the job and then you know, obviously you were able to hire some you know really talented people, including you, and we were able to kind of move you know, move forward.
Speaker 3:What I would say to my sister and brother presidents is that philanthropy, fundraising, development, advancement, whatever you want to call it you have to be intentional about it and spend a lion's share of your time on this work. That if you're sitting in your office micromanaging your team, that is not going to lead to success. Not interested and passionate about fundraising, this is not going to go well for you. Fundraising has to be at the center of what you do. Philanthropy, you know all of those engagement, all of those things have to be part of who you are. And I would say because a lot of people want to be, aspire to be college presidents, the question is, do you really want to do the job Right? It's important and sometimes you got to.
Speaker 3:You know I got to get yet another reception yet I mean so. You know yet another alumni phone call, but you got to be involved and engaged. You know that's related to communication and to meet the communication is to be able to effectively connect with different constituent groups. I tell my team all the time you know we have 10, 12, 15 constituent groups and even subgroups within that constituent group, right. So take alumni, right. Alumni are not monolithic, right. So you, you know, you got to work on that.
Speaker 3:Donors, you know, if you work in a public institution, the legislature, right, we've seen how that's been so disruptive. You know your faculty, your staff, your students. So you have to be able to effectively connect and steward those relationships. And that's a really critical word concept stewardship, right, the ability to keep engaged with the institution, the ability to think about this as a marathon rather than a sprint, and so that should begin. So you know, I would also say that my, you know, either aspiring or current brothers, brother, sister, presidents, if you're not every day, not actively stewarding relationships, then you, you have missed opportunities.
Speaker 2:Impeccable, dr V. I mean, and you know, my first role out of UT Austin was a stewardship role, so I always say that I put on that hat in our work because I think philanthropy is about stewardship. You can't do philanthropy without stewardship, and so thank you so much. I'm looking forward to seeing your impact, not only at Talladega, but also as we think about HBCUs and this era, that the importance of HBCUs continue to be reiterated. I think we're seeing a momentum within HBCUs and I'm looking forward to seeing all the ships rise. Dr Clark, I know we want to open it up for questions and I know you probably had the first question and I'm excited to hear it.
Speaker 3:He looks so excited to ask this question. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, hey brother, let me, let me, before you ask the question, I know I bragged on Dr Heaven. I just want to take a moment to brag on you. You know, I was like your biggest cheerleader when you successfully went up for tenure, but you did it your way. I mean you, you followed your passion. You never deviated, from the day I met you to today. You, you have fulfilled your academic mission, your passion, and I'm just, I just could not be more proud of you, brother.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I appreciate that. Listen, anthony knows I be crying and stuff. So don't, don't, don't judge me if I, if I, if I bust out a little bit, so good, I will never forget. You know, dr Vizzi, you had mentioned that you had been CEO and chairman of Sigma Pi Phi and so we had several opportunities to sit on panel discussions for the blueprint for Blackmail success and higher education redefining Blackmail success, and so that was one of the campaigns that came out of the experience that you, leonard and Lewis, were creating for us at UT Austin.
Speaker 1:And I remember at one of those, one of those panel discussions, you said, langston Clark, the future of HBCUs. That that is like an indelible moment for me, that I internalized in a very positive way and has shaped how I think about myself as an alumnus of North Carolina A&T and as someone who is a philanthropist in a community of philanthropists supporting my beloved alma mater. So that is something that stood out to me and to have that said in a crowd full of prominent Black folks that oftentimes we don't get an opportunity to recognize. You know, you might walk past a Black millionaire on a daily basis, but you never know, and so to be in that environment. Have that said was something that was very edifying to me, and so I appreciate that. So during one of those panel discussions, you threw this curveball question that I was ready for, and me and Anthony were talking about this, because in the law and higher education class I think it is I wasn't a higher ed student, but you're known for this students got to be ready because you're going to come with a question that has been in the readings right. And so here's my question to you and in some ways you alluded to it how your commitment to philanthropy was one of the things that allowed you to sit in the seat that you're sitting in now.
Speaker 1:As a donor to A&T, I have been invited to go to A&T's Endowment Donors Luncheon, and it dawned on me this past spring that me and three other people have committed to getting an initial $25,000 to get the endowment to maturity.
Speaker 1:Like I'm not giving hundreds of thousands of dollars, but me doing that had me sitting next to somebody who had given millions of dollars to A&T, someone else that had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to A&T, and so these folks are prominent positions in their careers or have been and built their wealth, and so can you talk about what it means to be a philanthropist for power? Now, I didn't have I didn't have the intentions of gaining status to be a philanthropist, but being a philanthropist will get you in rooms that you otherwise may not get into, and I think about a UT Austin with football team. They always think of talking about. The boosters are doing this. The boosters are the ones who are really choosing to head coach and all of that stuff, and so just just talk a little bit about what it means to be a strategic philanthropist as it pertains to you leveraging power to get things done that need to get done.
Speaker 3:Well, let me first respond to the prophetic comment I made about you and it extended to Dr Heaven. I felt your passion. One thing when I meet Aggies y'all are some of the you got so much pride. I, you know, I shared that with Chancellor Martin, who's a dear friend, fraternity, brother, I think the world of him. He's done a phenomenal job, as you know. But you all, let me tell you, you all take that, you know that, that commitment to Alma mater to the next level. So let me tell you a very, very quick and hopefully funny story. So Cameron, you know, did very well as a very strong high school runner and he and I. He said hey, dad, do you think I could get into North Carolina A&T? And I said, yeah, I believe you can. He said do you think I can run for A&T? I said, yes, son. No, not, not, not so much. Yeah, I don't think so. You might want to set your sights somewhere else.
Speaker 3:So I said but, Edward Moses went to Morehouse. So you know they, you know there you go, so you know. But again, kudos, and I really did mean that, and I meant all of I meant that about all of you, that you all, I was just so inspired by your collective and individual excellence. So there's no doubt about that. So, strategic philanthropy, right. So one of the things I realized is that I've been put in positions to lead organizations, and whether it's fraternal, at my church, higher education, and then, as I mentioned, you know, what really drove me was my parents example. But to your point, when you start giving, people start noticing you, and you know I was an early giver to my alma mater's and it makes a huge difference.
Speaker 3:Here's the other thing. I know Dr Heaven knows this, but Dr Clark, there's a lot of public information about you. You know what your house is, you know what you know, there's all kinds of stuff about you and if you want to get scared, google yourself. It's like it's scary, just what stuff is just out there. And so people start checking you out and they say, oh, okay, you're at this, you know wealth level and you're there. And then the other thing is, you know, if it's you know, and ecstatically, whether institution wants kind of a superficial diversity or substantive diversity, they got to have some folk right, so they're like man, and you know. And then back to this earlier point you know we want some generational diversity, so we want some dynamic young people. You know who are there. And so you, dr Clark, you got to have an earn, the sweet spot right, because you know you look impressive on paper. You got some letters behind your name, you know, you. You understand the academy, you, you know. So you begin to present yourself. The other thing is, and he's gonna have pride, still was going to have pride in their alma mater, you know, in their, in their alums, right. And so they're gonna like man. We want to start cultivating the next generation of trustees and donors. You know there should be a Dr Langston Clark building. At some point you might even become chancellor.
Speaker 3:What I've realized because I know Dr Heaven's gonna be president of Stilman, I just you know, I'm just putting that out there, but you know I shared that to say that what smart philanthropists understand is that if the long game right, you're being cultivated for a lifetime relationship with North Carolina A&T. You left, I mean you, I mean you, you, you, you shout out A&T every, every time I saw you, you know you found a very important way. That's the beauty of HBCU. They you know folks love their HBCUs, right, and so that becomes a relationship. And you know, you're getting to a point now where you are right, exactly where you need to be. You're mature enough to kind of know what's what. But then you got decades to contribute, right, and so there's this beautiful opportunity to kind of make that happen. And so to me, when you extend that to the corporate experience, these folks understand that they need board members, they need board of directors, right. And you know, it's not unsurprising that folks like the three of us get plucked for some of those boards because of our backgrounds or expertise. We do bring us a genuine sense of diversity. So that's how you begin to get in the room.
Speaker 3:The thing that I would say to two of you is that you don't know who's watching you. You don't, you don't know. In the San Antonio community, I'm sure, folks you are on folks radar like, okay, who are the young, up-and-coming leaders in San Antonio? I know for a fact, you know because I work with them, that Dr Heaven, their people have him on their radar right, and so the two of you are doing exactly the right thing.
Speaker 3:The other thing I would tell people is don't get thirsty, don't go chasing it. You know people could sniff out a lack of authenticity. Continue to be the thing I love about you, dr Clark. You're you, man. You're the same dude. You didn't cut your. You know your braids, your locks to. You know, maybe that'll help me get tenure right. You know, dr Heaven. You know you've been rocking that, that wonderful beard of yours. You know you. You know you are who. You are right, you know, I mean, you all know how to suit up if you need to, but then you also, you know, know how that. You know I'm going to be authentically you.
Speaker 1:Dr Vincent, thank you for that.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that and I want to give flowers to both of you links into you being the facilitator, the creator of this, and Dr Vincent, you being the distinguished guest. So one links in. I wanted to echo what Dr Vincent said. You may not know this, I may not have ever told you this, but I'm not a crier, so I'm not going to cry today.
Speaker 2:However, when I arrived at UT Austin, you were one of the first graduate school brothers I met and in a lot of ways, you've done things first. I mean I'm following on your coattails. I mean you graduated before me. I watched you as a man of faith, I watched you as a professor. You started your endowed fund before I was able to start mine this year at Stillman, and so I really appreciate you, your support and who you are in this space and how you continue to exemplify HPCU excellence in your, in your walk.
Speaker 2:And, of course, dr Vincent, as I echo everything Langston said, you have been amazing in your mentorship. Anda. Lot of I know we call it the board, the board of my life. A lot of the folks on the board are as a result of your mentorship and the people that I was connected with through our time with the Boolay, through our time at UT Austin with the advancement team, and so I'm eternally grateful and I will tell you every time I talk to brother Paul Griffin, he's like have you talked to Dr Vincent? Have you talked to Dr Vincent? So I'm really grateful for both of you all. This has been kind of like soul food in a lot of ways for me.
Speaker 3:So thank you Well brother, thank you so much. And I had a chance to see brother Gifford a month or so ago and he's a dear friend and a great leader, the former president of Phi Beta Sigma and just a member of the Boolay. Dear, dear friend.
Speaker 3:But let me let me just say two other things before I let you all go. I can't tell you how faith will continue sustaining, because you know there are going to be a lot of ups and there are going to be challenges, right, valleys, right and your faith is going to sustain you through those times and you can't lose who you are. And you know one of the things you've got to do is be like a Swiss watch, you know you just got to be consistent and faith is such a huge part of what we do. And then the last piece we've alluded to, but I just want to hammer this home. It's about brotherhood. You know we're talking, you know that. You know I count you all as brothers, peers, you know. And then, of course, you know we have to connect with our beautiful sisters, even while they do their thing. We got to come together. That becomes critical.
Speaker 3:One of the great moments of my life, I guess I was 29,. I got my first executive position. My relationship with my father changed. He went from being my dad, you know, to being my coach, and we just had a very different kind of relationship. And you know, family is everything, and I don't just mean your biological family, right, you know, building family, building community, I found myself really making choices to spend more time with friends and family and less time trying to and trying to move up the ladder, do all these other things. Because to me, quality of life, you know, finding your purpose right, finding your passion, becomes so who you are really, really working hard to fulfill God's will for me. And then, by extension, you know the people that I love, and of course the two of you are an essential part of that. And so you know I've become much more reflective, certainly with my parents passing, just thinking about the choices that they made, retiring early, having 30 years, you know of just great quality of life. And I'm like man, make a decision not to continue to make another dollar, right I mean. So those things become really critical. And you know, one of the most precious resources we have is time, health, right. So you know, just making sure we keep each other healthy, keep each other accountable. That becomes, that's a part of philanthropy too. Hey, checking in on, you know, folk and just you know making sure they're doing okay.
Speaker 3:My father, my mother, was the extrovert, right, but my father, I really learned about relationships through him and so this whole notion of picking up the phone, you know, not for anything, not because you need something, but just how you doing. You know, I remember my mother. She got a phone call. I was one who picked up the phone that was a landline back in the day and gave it to my mother and they started on this two hour conversation. They hadn't talked to each other in 10, you know, for 10 years which you would have they picked up, like it was yesterday. So filling those relationships are just so absolutely critical. Brothers, I love you both. I am so grateful for this opportunity. You know, you know, as a mentor, you want the best for the folks that are in your circle and I just could not ask for that because you all are living your passion and your purpose and so keep doing what you're doing and I, it's just been great.
Speaker 1:Dr Vincent, thank you. I appreciate you coming in today. I know your schedule was busy and just thank you for the kind words and the encouragement and the support that you've given both me and Anthony throughout the years. Thank you for joining this edition of entrepreneurial appetite. If you liked the episode, you can support the show by becoming one of our founding 55 patrons, which gives you access to our live discussions and bonus materials, or you can subscribe to the show. Get us five stars and leave a comment.