Dear Faithful Friend of Carver College:

Thanks so much for continuing to pray, give and have high expectations for the return on your investment in the Lord’s work at Carver College. It’s reaping consequential returns for the Kingdom today and for generations to come!

Inspired by the Past

On my wall I have a collection of four inspiring pictures of Howard University’s 1913 debate team, their 1906 football team, interns at Freedmen’s Hospital and one of my heroes Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson – who pastored a small church in Charleston, WV before becoming Howard’s first African American president in 1926.

What is particularly inspiring is that the Howard I know today is not the Howard in these pictures. In the pictures, Howard boasted only 4 members on their debate team and just 4 interns at Freedmen’s Hospital. Today, Howard produces more African American Ph.D.s than any other university, including a Rhodes Scholar, a Truman Scholar, six Fulbright Scholars and nine Pickering Fellows and boasts their very own medical school. In the pictures, Howard was not yet a nationally accredited undergraduate school. Today, Howard is one of only 48 U.S. private, Doctor/Research-extensive universities, comprising 12 fully accredited schools and colleges with more than 120 areas of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. In the pictures, no two students on the football team are wearing the same hand sewn uniform (an obvious indicator of the lack of resources). Today, Howard athletics boasts exceptional opportunities for its students to participate in 11 different NCAA team sports. In the pictures, donors were giving to help Howard become successful. Today, donors give because Howard is successful; in fact it is the nation’s premier Historically Black College and University!

Investing in the Future

What is true of Howard today will be true of Carver tomorrow! Today, you and I pray and give because we are trusting God to translate vision into reality, helping Carver become successful. Tomorrow, donors will pray and give because they “see” Carver’s success.

Today, the numbers at Carver are small with one major. Tomorrow, as our accrediting association grants approval, Carver will have many majors and yet each will always keep the main thing the main thing, retaining at least 33 hours of biblical studies in the 120 hour Bachelor’s program, ensuring that very graduate leaves with a biblical world view. Today, every Carver grad engages in some form of ministry or service to God by helping others. Tomorrow, Carver grads will serve in business, education, science, the medical field and in social services. Today, Carver’s curriculum leads to a Certificate, Associate of Arts and a Bachelor’s degree. Tomorrow, Carver will boast of having one of the few accredited African-American led evangelical seminaries in the U.S. Today, Carver’s athletic opportunities are limited to a men’s NCCAA Division I basketball program. Tomorrow, Carver will provide exceptional athletic opportunities for both male and female students to participate in a variety of team sports.

Imprinting the Present

Today, we remain adamant about ensuring that every student entering Carver begins a spiritual and intellectual quest to develop a strong biblical world view. That is important to us because worldviews have a huge impact on a person’s behavior, regardless of their occupation. The modernist is convinced that there is nothing beyond the physical world and there is no life ahead of the grave. They are consumed with eating, drinking, and being merry in this life and are often driven by the motto, “you only go around once.” Views that would place others before one’s self, or turn the other cheek, or go the second mile are foreign to the modernist and therefore they go through life looking out for “number one.” A Carver education is in contrast to this.

Paul said “...walk in a manner worthy...” of our calling, implying that we leave an imprint. When I was a child growing up in Washington, DC our winters were full of snow. Whenever large trucks drove down our street they left huge imprints in the snow. Days later those imprints would still be there. In fact, long after the trucks had gone by and even if we never saw them, we knew they had come down our street because of the imprint left by their tires. Paul is encouraging Christians of his day and ours, to live in such a way that we leave an imprint for Christ on society. As early as age 18, Carver students begin stamping biblical values on society that they acquire from a biblical world view.

Right Sizing Takes Time

Most thriving U.S. colleges and universities enjoy an economic scenario where tuition revenue supplies 80% of the operating budget and donation revenue provides 20%. In a few weeks, Carver will have enjoyed its first full academic year in it’s 68 year history offering federal financial aid to its students. A friend and mentor, Dr. Sherrill Babb, president emeritus of Philadelphia Biblical University said that achievement is a “major milestone” in any college’s history! With this accomplishment under our belts, Carver is beginning to thrive towards being more dependent upon tuition and far less dependent upon donation revenue – a goal we have had for a very long time.

In order to increase tuition revenue, we had to increase enrollment. In order to increase enrollment we had to secure federal financial aid and in order to secure financial aid we had to become accredited. Securing our new campus with expanded space for instruction, administration and athletics also had a positive impact on enrollment. This past year, we enjoyed the largest enrollment in the college’s 68 year history!

While we have come a long way, we are not yet at the finish line – but we’re close! We are close to right sizing our economics and with God’s grace and your help we can accomplish it now as we close our books for the current fiscal year. Will you prayerfully consider giving generously to help Carver reach its end of the fiscal year goal and above that trust the Lord with us for three other needs that are critical to our future.

Our end of the fiscal year goal is $750,500. This figure not only allows Carver to end the fiscal year in the black, it also enables the college to retire its entire debt of $650,500 and accomplish Phase III of the Campaign for Carver placing Carver on strong financial footing. Financial stability has also been a long standing goal of ours. Our accrediting association (www.abhe.org) has communicated rather firmly to us that we must reduce our debt in order to accomplish our 10 year reaffirmation. Not being able to accomplish this would render useless all of our efforts over the past 16 years and remove Carver’s access to federal financial aid. Accomplishing this would assure Carver’s accreditation for the next 10 years and in turn allow us continued access to federal financial aid for our students and assuring enrollment growth year after year after year.

In addition to our fiscal year end goal, we are trusting the Lord to meet three other critical needs. First, the annual fund portion of next of next year’s budget, $480,000 (40% of 1,200,000). Next fiscal year, we project that the annual fund goal will reduce from 80% of our budget to 40% of our budget. Having these funds in our account on July 1, gives Carver the needed advantage of raising funds for the succeeding year’s annual fund verses the current one. Then we will function like most healthy U.S. schools, not having to hustle to satisfy current operations but budgetary items a year down the road. We have been advised that when operating in such an advanced mode fund raising efforts are far more fruitful and less desperate.

Second, when Carver acquired the 16 acres we occupy here on Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta, D. R. Horton was planning to build a subdivision on the adjacent 16 acres but their plans changed when the economy took a downturn. They sold the land back to the original owner. We met with the owner and asked for the right of first refusal. He said yes and is asking $1.4 million for the land which is significantly less than the amount before our current recession. The neighborhood Carver now resides in is one of the most prestigious neighborhoods for African Americans anywhere in America. Our zip code, 30331, gave more funds to President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign than any other Black community in the U.S. (sounds to me like a good place for Carver to be!).

Real estate experts have informed us that whenever the economy turns, that 16 acres will be heavily pursued by builders, regardless of how much the land value increases. To put the $1.4 million price in perspective, there are homes in the neighborhood that sit on 1 acre lots that cost more than $1 million. I believe that another good thing that can come out of this recession is Carver acquiring 16 additional acres for future growth and expansion at a price far less than before the recession.

Third, a critical step as Carver continues to grow and meet the needs of its students is the construction of 13,300 sq. ft. of on-campus housing for 50 students. More traditional students than ever are now attending the college – that is those coming directly from high school. We have proposed building 6 townhouse-style dorms that will provide more of an on-campus experience to our students. A recent survey of our students determined a need for an affordable on-campus housing experience. This experience will make Carver more attractive for out of state students as well as those outside of the Atlanta metroplex. The new dorm will cost $1,280,000 and construction will take one year and begin as soon as the funds are raised. On-campus housing will not prevent Carver from being a convenient place for commuters to attend, allow people to work, raise a family and still go to school.

In summary the fiscal year end needs are:

Thank you so much for investing in Carver’s today and tomorrow. Your faithful prayers and timely support, before June 30, enables us to end the fiscal year on a strong financial footing and launch into next fiscal year being a stronger force for good than ever before. I have enclosed a self addressed envelope for your tax-deductible gift. God bless you for your critical role in the Lord’s work here at Carver College.

Until He comes or calls,

Robert W. Crummie
President