Wilberforce University
Organization Details
We are a university community which values and respects diversity of thought, critical thinking, intellectual rigor, spiritual development and the passionate pursuit of disciplined habits of the mind, spirit and body. We have been strategic in defining ourselves as a premier liberal arts institution with an entrepreneurial intention. This has allowed us to be especially focused on curricula and program development and student engagement which creates an academic culture which celebrates and cultivates the liberal arts while encouraging and developing, in our students, entrepreneurial thinking and action.
Impact Story
Wilberforce University is the nation’s oldest private, historically black University owned and operated by African Americans. Its roots trace back to its founding in 1856, a period of American history marred by the physical bondage of people of African descent. It was also a period when the education of African Americans was not only socially prohibited but was illegal.
There was nothing about the prevailing social and cultural ethos of the era that suggested that African Americans might or should be taught or could learn. Yet a powerful idea assumed life and Wilberforce University was born. The founding of Wilberforce University represented a bold, audacious and visionary example of what could happen when men and women of goodwill transcended race and the prevailing social and cultural constructs and norms to pursue a noble purpose.
Diverse Social Enterprise
The TRANSFORM Support Hub is committed to accelerating diverse owned and led enterprises to build more equitable and resilient supply chains.