Acacia eNewsletter - May-June 2018

Please Remember Africa University in Your Will Issue:

04

Vol:

23

May - June

2018

Africa University Development Office | P O Box | Nashville, TN 37203 ) | Fax. ( ) | Email:340007 audevoffice@gbhem.org Tel. (

615 340 7438

615 340 7290

Graduates Challenged to Become Exemplary Leaders

A top executive of Boeing challenged Africa University graduates the from616 countries to go forth and 21 become exemplary leaders.

“Our world is in need of good principled leaders like yourself. Every good leader worked hard, took risks and treated others with respect,” said Timothy Keating, executive vice president of government operations for the Boeing Company.

Keating also announced at the June 9tion graduaceremonies that his family has endowed a $ , permanent scholarship for

130 000

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21

There are African countries represented in this year’s graduating class.

female students studying education at Africa University. The scholarship is named for Keating’s wife, Ann. “By working hard and treating peo-

ple with respect you can improve your luck,” Keating said. “Someone will take a risk on you.”

The university awarded Keating an honorary doctorate of leadership and governance in recognition of his accomplishments.

The graduates include 309 women and 307 men. With addition of the class of 2018, Africa University now has about 8,800 graduates. The university gave scholarships worth over $2.2 million to 550 students over the past year. It’s Vice Chancellor, Dr. Munashe Furusa, expressed gratitude to The United Methodist Church and other partners for providing those scholarships.

—UMNS story by Eveline Chikwanah.

AU and Claflin U: Working to Expand Partnership

Retiring Pastor Honored

Both institutions are Africa Uniprioritizing innovation versity (AU) and and providing programs Claflin University and a learning experimoved one step ence that students and closer to full faculty enjoy and find implementation relevant to the needs of of an expanded a global human capital partnership in May. Dr. Charles Richardson, Jr. of the School of Business marketplace.

“AU is a remarkable Africa Uni- at Claflin U, in discussions with the deans of AU’s three colleges and senior administrators. university that is bold versity hosted a in its outlook and never visit to its main campus near Mutare, Zimbabwe by Dr. shies away from change,” said Richardson.

Charles Richardson, Jr. of the School of “In the higher education sector, we tend to lean more towards what has worked in the Business at Claflin University.

As United Methodist-related institutions, past and are not too keen on trying new Africa University and Claflin University things. That is not true of this university, and share a mandate to nurture principled, I am excited to be here and to find pathways visionary and proactive leaders who think through which we can partner with you and globally and act locally. The two universi- grow together.”

Africa University and Claflin University ties are similar in size and research and academic interests. Africa University has signed a linkage agreement in March 2017 an annual full-time enrollment around , that formalizes ongoing cooperation on 1 500 students, compared to around , and academic program delivery 2 100 full- research as well as student and faculty exchanges. time students at Claflin University.

The pastor of Ousley United Methodist Church, Rev. McCallister Hollins, was honored with the Africa University Drum Award on June . The 8 presentation was made at a retirement celebration for Rev. Hollins, who has served in pastoral ministry within the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church for 37 years.

While serving as Senior Pastor of Ben Hill United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Rev. Hollins led a successful effort (1999-2002) to fund construction of a women’s dormitory at Africa University. The Ben Hill Dormitory remains the only building gifted to Africa University by an AfricanAmerican United Methodist congregation to date.

The Amazing Charitable IRA Rollover Gift If you are at least 70½ years old, you can make a direct charitable gift to Africa University of up to $100,000.00 in a single year from your traditional IRA account without having to pay federal tax on the withdrawal. This permanent tax provision was preserved in the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017. Furthermore, such a gift will qualify for your “required minimum distribution.”

Here is how it works. Assume an unmarried 71-year-old donor with a traditional IRA account valued at $500,000.00.

The donor must take her required distribution of approximately $19,000.00 before December 31st and pay ordinary income tax on the amount withdrawn.

Instead of making the withdrawal, she makes a distribution of $19,000.00 directly to Africa University through her IRA administrator. This amount is not sub-

DID YOU KNOW...

ject to federal income tax, and it satisfies her mandatory distribution. Because the distribution goes directly to Africa University, there is no income tax charitable deduction.

For more information on charitable IRA rollover gifts, please contact our Director of Planned Giving, Elaine Jenkins, Elaine Jenkins, Director Africa University of Planned Giving Development Office, P. O. Box 340007, Nashville, TN, 37203-0007, 615/340-7428 (telephone), 615/340-7290 (fax), ejenkins@gbhem.org (e-mail address). Visit the planned giving website at http://www. africau.plannedgiving.org/.

Rev. C. Jarrett and Mai Hutson Gray Endowed Scholarship Fund Nearing Completion May in Columbus, OH, and is hopeful of reaching its $ 130 , 000 goal by the end of this year.

Mrs. Gray’s contributions as an activist and leader were highlighted by assembly organizers as the UMW celebrated 150 years of bold action. She was the first African American woman to serve as the president of the UMW.

Guidestar is the major online company that individuals, corporations, and foundations use to vet non-profit organizations to make sure that they are legitimate, and are not on one of the government’s watch-lists. Africa University recently received GuideStar’s Bronze Seal of Transparency and donors can use the link on AU’s GuideStar page to go direct to www.support-africauniversity.org.

Corporations with matching gifts programs are increasingly using the Benevity Causes Portal to vet non-profit organizations. Microsoft, Apple, and Google are a few of the major corporations that use this portal to make their matching gifts.

The AmazonSmile Foundation was established in 2013 by Amazon. Amazon donates . % of the price of eligible smile.

05 amazon.com purchases to the charities selected by customers. Individual donation amounts are small, but they’re likely to increase as more friends take advantage of Africa University’s unique charity link: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/ 62 .

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General Board of Higher Education and Ministry The United Methodist Church P O Box 340007 Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0007

Africa University’s friends and supporters are responding generously to an appeal to complete a scholarship endowment in memory of Mrs. Mai Hutson Gray and her husband, Rev. C. Jarrett Gray.

Over the past two months, more than $6,000 in new gifts have been received for the Gray scholarship, leaving a balance of just over $12,000 to complete the endowment.

The university made the scholarship appeal a special focus of its participation at the United Methodist Women’s Assembly held in mid-

Africa University is registered with several major online giving portals— Guidestar, Benevity Causes, and AmazonSmile.

These portals make it easy and convenient for you, and any friends you introduce to AU, to check us out, make gifts, and help to provide additional support through corporate matching gifts programs.

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Nashville, Tenn.

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