Memphis Mayor Paul Young and LeMoyne-Owen College President Dr. Christopher B. Davis pictured following the declaration of the City of Memphis and Shelby County’s designation of August 7 as LeMoyne-Owen’s 807 Day.LeMoyne-Owen College
He didn’t attend the university himself, but Dr. Chris Davis, president of the small, private HBCU, said he has expressed that he is immensely proud of the young people he sees walking across campus each day and wants to do his part to help.
“I have to remind my students in a real way that when people give ... they do it because they want you to experience a reality that many of them never knew,” Davis said.
LeMoyne Owen was founded a year before Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation — during a time where “enslaved persons who held up no hope at all of being able to read and write themselves gave what they had” to build a school that would one day educate their children and future generations of students who looked like them, he continued.
This sense of communal care and responsibility is what led Davis’ predecessor, Dr. Vernell Bennett-Fairs, to launch 807 day — an annual day of giving geared towards providing gap funds to students coming to campus whose needs are not covered by the financial aid available.
This year, the college raised over $210,000 on 807 Day — held annually on August 7 — in direct support to students. Roughly 75% of that went to support first-time students whose need exceeded the financial aid available to them, Davis said. The rest went towards outstanding balances for returning students. In the four years since the campaign first launched, Davis estimates the campaign has raised more than $750,000, largely through small donations from community members and alumni.
“This is the worst that I've seen it, not only in terms of the resources they have available, but also all of the confusion around the changes to financial aid,” Davis said of the gaps left by financial aid for the incoming class of students.
The college has also brought on additional temporary staff to help ensure students who are looking for help navigating financial aid and getting enrolled have the support they need to do so; many are first-generation students whose parents are navigating the process with them for the first time.
“Every [student] that wants to come, I need them to come, and I need to figure out what I can do within reason to get them here,” he added.
