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Information About

United Negro College Fund




The United Negro College Fund ('''UNCF''') is a Fairfax , Virginia -based American philanthropic organization that fundraises College Tuition money for African-American students and general scholarship funds for 39 Historically Black Colleges And Universities . The UNCF was incorporated on April 25 , 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson (president of what is now Tuskegee University ), Mary McLeod Bethune , and others.

As of 2005 , the UNCF is helping approximately 65,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities. About 60% of these students are the first in their families to attend college, and 62% have annual family incomes of less than $25,000. UNCF also administers over 450 named scholarships.

The UNCF's current president and chief executive officer is Michael Lomax .


MOTTO

Since 1972, the UNCF Motto has been "A mind is a terrible thing to waste," and has become one of the more widely recognized slogans in Advertising history. The motto has been used in award-winning UNCF ad campaigns and was created by Forest Long of the advertising agency Young and Rubicam.

It was once famously flubbed by then- U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle , who attempted to paraphrase it at a UNCF fundraiser as "What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."


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