“We believe in SAU & your leadership.” SAU Receives $10K Donation from Wayne County HBCU Alliance at St. James AME Zion Church
The Wayne County HBCU Alliance in Goldsboro is the latest organization to offer a generous gift to Saint Augustine’s University (SAU), continuing the outpouring of love and support the 157-year-old university has received from the community. In a St. James Church AME Zion Church service on Sunday, July 28, 2024, the Wayne County HBCU Alliance presented a $10,100 check to SAU Interim President Dr. Marcus H. Burgess.
“We are responsible for keeping our institution going, but sometimes we fall from grace,” said Dr. Burgess, who thanked the church members for their support. “And that’s what has happened, but guess what? We are fighting hard to get back up. And we are fighting because so many people believe in us. Folks have tossed us aside; it was the community, the alums, the people who believe in us who have picked us up and held us up strong.”
The $10,100 was raised through a 5K walk and run on June 8th, sponsored by the Wayne County HBCU Alliance.
“Dr. Burgess, we believe in SAU and your leadership,” said SAU alumnus Travis Outlaw, ’73, Treasurer of the Wayne County HBCU Alliance and Trustee at St. James. “We know you’ve been traveling all up and down the road trying to raise money. We appreciate that, and we have a donation that we want to give you to Saint Augustine’s.”
Dr. Burgess was at the service to accept the check. Calling SAU the “Miracle on Oakwood Avenue,” he highlighted the value of HBCUs to the Black community, noting that 70 percent of African American teachers, 50 percent of Black judges, and two-thirds of STEM graduates attended HBCUs.
“What we do at our HBCUs strengthens you,” Dr. Burgess said. “We do our best and send them off to do their best.”
St. James AME Zion Church members also raised an additional $466 offering.
“I want to take up an offering for SAU because it takes a lot of work, a lot of finances, and a lot of prayers,” said Rev. David Elliott, Pastor of St. James AME Zion Church. I don’t want anybody leaving here shaking Dr. Burgess’s hand and saying, ‘We will pray for you’ because the Bible says that faith without works is dead.”
Dr. Raymond E. Smith, Jr., a former state representative representing NC House District 21 in the state General Assembly, provided encouraging remarks during the church service.
“It is not lost on me that this is an occasion that calls for our community to come together,” Smith said. “Under no circumstances did God put us here for anything other than to look after one another. And today, we come to look after Saint Augustine’s.”
In February, SAU launched the Falcon Pride Initiative Fundraising Campaign to rally the support of internal stakeholders, alums, friends, neighbors, and the HBCU community and demonstrate its financial solvency to preserve its accreditation.
On July 22, Dr. Burgess announced that the arbitration committee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) had, in a unanimous decision, overturned an earlier SACSCOC ruling and reinstated SAU’s membership with the sanction of Probation for Cause until December 2024.
This monumental decision allows SAU to address its challenges and continue to carry out its mission and unwavering commitment to academic excellence. This decision is a testament to the shared belief in the value of SAU and the importance of allowing us to continue this legacy.
Click here to watch the full service at St. James AME Zion Church.
Click here to learn more about the Wayne County HBCU Alliance.
Click here to support the Falcon Pride Initiative.
