Tom Joyner Foundation® Donates $200k to Knoxville College

Dallas, TX, July 29, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The Tom Joyner Foundation® has donated an additional $200,000 to Knoxville College as part of its mulit-year long effort to help bolster the school’s program.

Over the past year, the 11-year-old foundation has contributed more than $500,000 to help the school renovate one of its dorms and recruit students.

“Knoxville College has a very special and unique program,” said Tom Joyner, chairman of the Foundation and host of the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show, aired in 115 markets reaching 8 million listeners. “We’re trying to do what we can to make sure the college can continue to help make students’ dreams come true.”

George Curry, a Knoxville alumnus and chairman of the Board of Trustees, said the board is "extremely grateful for the generous and consistent financial support the Joyner Foundation has provided to Knoxville College.” Curry, a veteran journalist, said the foundation’s “latest donation will go a long way toward educating another generation of youth while strengthening the overall college. Knoxville College is fortunate and blessed to have the support of the Joyner Foundation."

Dr. Robert Harvey, an alumnus and interim president, said the college is moving forward. “It’s been a miracle that college has made it so far. We wouldn’t have survived without the Foundation’s help.”

Dr. Johnnie Cannon, the college’s chief executive officer, said, “The Tom Joyner Foundation has been and continues to be a lifeline for Knoxville College. It is among our largest and sustained donors. This financial award of $200,000 is timely and will ensure continued operation of the College at its time of greatest need. … We are most fortunate that The Tom Joyner Foundation sees the value of Knoxville College and what it can become and fully supports the plans for its restoration.”

Knoxville, founded in 1875, is the nation’s only historically black college and university that is a ‘work college’. Students are required to participate in a work program to pay for their tuition and fees. It’s Cannon’s hope that the new areas of focus will help students find jobs during, and after college. “We believe the business community will be more supportive of the college if they see that we’ll have students for the jobs in the community,” he said.

During the past 18 months, retired Knoxville President Dr. Robert H. Harvey and Frank Robinson, a local business executive and another one of the college’s board member, have been actively working in rebuilding community relations. To bolster the college’s new curriculum, Tom Joyner Foundation has been helping the college raise money. Earlier this year, the foundation donated $250,000, which has been used to renovate one of the campus’ dorms. The foundation,

The Foundation and Knoxville College, located in Knoxville, Tenn., are engaged in an aggressive campaign to raise money from alumni, friends, businesses and other supporters of black colleges who are being asked to donate whatever they can to help keep students attending the Historically Black College & University (HBCU). The “Knoxville College Work Program” is one of the most unique among HBCUS in the country, allowing students to work in jobs on or off campus to offset their college costs.

The Board of Freedmen's Mission of the United Presbyterian Church founded Knoxville College. For many years, it had a world renowned gospel choir that traveled the world and a very active debating team that competed nationally. In recent years, the College has been trying to increase enrollment through a national recruiting campaign, and by actively engaging its alumni chapters around the country.

For more information about making a donation to the Knoxville College effort, contact the Foundation at BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Founded in 1998, the Tom Joyner Foundation has raised more than $55 million to help keep students enrolled in black colleges. It has assisted more than 14,000 students and worked with more than 100 HBCUs. To learn more about the Foundation, go to BlackAmericaWeb.com.

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