Advertisement

newsEducation

Paul Quinn receives $20M from anonymous donor, largest gift in college’s history

The historically Black college will use funds on scholarships and to bolster academic program.

Paul Quinn College received a $20 million gift, the largest in the school’s 152-year history, officials announced Thursday.

The anonymous donor’s gift will help the historically Black college in southern Dallas provide more scholarships and support an academic program focused on banking and finance.

“We’re going to invest in places that will increase the viability, sustainability and appeal of the campus,” Michael Sorrell, Paul Quinn president, said.

Advertisement

The college’s roughly 700 students also will see physical upgrades on campus, including enhanced infrastructure for outdoor learning, he added.

The Education Lab

Receive our in-depth coverage of education issues and stories that affect North Texans.

Or with:

A chunk of the funding will bolster the banking and finance program, which Sorrell said will become one of Paul Quinn’s signature academic areas.

Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, said the $20 million anonymous gift will...
Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, said the $20 million anonymous gift will not only provide scholarships but also be spent on building its banking and finance academic programs. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

Most students enrolled at the school come from under-resourced backgrounds as school officials have long focused recruitment in high-poverty neighborhoods. Nearly all Paul Quinn students receive “significant financial assistance,” Sorrell said.

“Banking in this region is an enormously attractive profession,” he said. “They need to be in careers that will take them away from lives of scarcity.”

Advertisement

The gift will help build an Office of Development and bolster the college’s philanthropy efforts.

“It’s nice to get a gift like this – I’d like to keep getting gifts like this,” said Sorrell, explaining the need for such an office. “We need people who are working every day to make that possible.”

Advertisement

Sorrell said he learned about a foundation looking to make anonymous gifts, so he quickly put together a proposal. Foundation officials informed him soon afterward that they would be sending a big check.

Sorrell said he hopes the gift makes students feel proud that they helped the college reach this historic moment. He wants students to feel what it is to have others believe in them, he said.

“It’s a gift to be their college president, but I’m not the only one who feels as if they are special,” Sorrell said. “There are a lot of people who feel they are special. Here’s one of those people who thought: You are special, 20 million times over.”

Other North Texas colleges and universities have also recently celebrated large gifts, including Texas Woman’s University and SMU.

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.