DOVER – Delaware State University has much to celebrate, and plenty of reasons to be grateful – for its students, for its many supporters, and for its growing reputation as one of the nation’s top historically black universities.
Those bright sparks of success will light the stage this Saturday at the University’s sold-out scholarship gala, designed to highlight the student experience and encourage support for young scholars.
In attendance on the Dover campus will be one governor (Delaware’s Matt Meyer), a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter (AverySunshine), and a former Philadelphia Eagle (DeSean Jackson, the University’s football coach).
But students get the starring role. Their testimonials will explore the impact made on campus by corporations and other outside supporters, including Agilent Technologies, Delmarva Power, Strada Education, Barclays, Sallie Mae, Christiana Care, Braven, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and INSPIRE, the state-sponsored, full-tuition scholarship for graduating Delaware high school seniors.
Other students will join the party: Special performances will include the University’s Drum Line (known as “The Approaching Storm”), the dance troop D’Elegance, and the student jazz ensemble. Grammy Award-winner and Spelman Alumna Avery Sunshine will be the premier artist.
The gala’s presenting sponsor, Capital One, will receive the Corporate Leadership Award for its longstanding partnership with the University.
In 2021, Capital One gifted the University its Christina Riverfront property at 1 S. Orange St. in Wilmington. The historic, six-story, 35,000-square-foot facility is now home to the University’s Graduate, Adult, and Continuing Studies School. It also serves as a community hub for small-business venture capital initiatives, through Bronze Valley Capital; public education reform ideation, through the Wilmington Learning Collaborative; and career accelerator applications for Braven, a national partnership of more than 75 employers.
“In 2021, we were extraordinarily pleased to help bring this incredible learning institution back to Delaware’s largest metropolitan city,” Capital One said in a statement. “Since that time, our work with the University has continued to grow, including our recent collaboration with the College of Agriculture, Science & Technology to support the Agribusiness Innovation Venture Summit last spring. We will always be with Delaware State University.”
The gala is expected to net $2 million in investments, including a challenge grant by alumnus Steve Ewing, class of 1982. In 2023, Ewing made his first $1 million gift to the University, the most significant gift by an alumnus in the University’s 134-year history. Ewing is a member of the University’s Foundation Board, and the chair of the University Athletic Transformation Committee – a three-phase, $120 million effort to reimagine the University’s athletic footprint.
“Delaware State University changed my life,” Ewing said. “My family and I are serious about supporting its transformation in every way. In my view, it is the best return on investment in higher education, and nothing could be more important.”
University President Tony Allen, celebrating his sixth year leading the institution, reflected on the achievements of the decade. “What has happened at this University is divinely inspired. Full stop. From the acquisition of Wesley College to the growth of the Early College School and everything in between, no one could have imagined our 134-year trajectory and its current acceleration but God.
“We have seen historic enrollment, the launch of INSPIRE Scholarships, and a research portfolio built by faculty virtually from the ground up,” Allen added. “At DSU, students of all backgrounds are finding their place of usefulness and honor in the world, in every major discipline. We are grateful and continuing to get after it. The gala is just another time to tell the story.”
Among its most recent accolades, US News and World Report lists the University as the No. 4 public HBCU and since 2020 has ranked the University in the Top 10 of the101 HBCUs in the United States. Forbes ranks it as No. 2 University for HBCU online education, bolstered by its creation of the eHBCU platform, a consortium of HBCUs led by Delaware State University. Its R2 research Carnegie classification makes it one of only 14 such HBCUs with that distinction. And it is widely regarded as the No. 1 choice for college students of color in Delaware.
INSPIRE Scholar and junior Computer Science major Evans Armandtrading III said it best. “I grew up in Delaware, my father is a Delaware entrepreneur, my mother is in the University’s Hall of Fame, but never would I have imagined the great number of opportunities I have received as a member of the University community. It was not just the best choice for me, it is the place where God helped me find my voice and purpose. I cannot wait not only to make my mark, but also to give back what has been given to me.”
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