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ith their contribution this year to an endowed scholarship fund established in their name at Morgan State University, retired UPS senior executive Calvin E. Tyler Jr. and his wife, Tina, have made a $5-million gift to MSU, the largest individual donation in the school’s history. The fund, which was founded by the nationally known philanthropists in 2002, provides needbased scholarships that cover full tuition for select Morgan students who reside in Baltimore City, the Tylers’ hometown. “This incredibly generous donation from the Tylers will provide many talented, hard-working students with a higher education they may not otherwise have achieved,” said Morgan President David Wilson when the gift was announced. “But more than that, it will help ensure the success of Morgan’s mission and benefit the youth of Baltimore City, at this particularly challenging time and far into the future.”
Who Benefits? Ashleigh Williams is one of those youth now benefiting from the Tylers’ generosity. A junior majoring in biology at MSU, she is planning to attend graduate school and pursue a career in public health. Williams has been a Tyler Scholar since her second semester at the University. She recalls the stressful time before she received her first scholarship. “...The first semester was fine,” Williams says, “however, when it came to the spring semester of my freshman year, I got a bill from Morgan saying if I didn’t pay by a certain date, I’d have to leave school immediately. I was panicking because I didn’t have the money…. I didn’t know how to deal with (the situation) because of the difficulty with financial issues at home. “Then I got an email saying that (I had received a Tyler Scholarship),” she recalls. “I got $7,000, and it helped cover all of my expenses…. I was really, really grateful. It helped a lot.”
Williams has thrived with the financial support, which included a job on campus in Morgan’s Office of Residential Life and Housing. She has a gradepoint average of 3.2 and has earned an additional scholarship through Morgan’s ASCEND program: “A Student-Centered, Entrepreneurship Development Training Model to Increase Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce.” Byron Selby of Morgan’s Class of 2008 is another of the many success stories that have flowed from the Tyler Scholarship. The first Tyler Scholar to graduate from the University, he now works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he plans to make his career, and volunteers with youth as a basketball coach near his home in Clinton, Md. He says he feels “forever indebted” to the Tylers and to Morgan. “…The Tylers are special not just because they give back with their money but (because) they’re really good, down-to-earth people,” says Selby. “I could probably call them up right now and hold a conversation with Mr. Tyler or Mrs. Tyler…. (The scholarship I received is) special to me, because I was the first to graduate. So I think that holds a special place in their hearts also. And I know it’s a good feeling for them to see how I’ve progressed, because they’ve expressed that to me. I’m going to always give back.”
Circle of Giving “I think anyone who’s had any success in life and has the ability to reach back and help others, this is the time for them to do it,” said Calvin Tyler during an interview last February. Tyler was the first person in his family to attend college when he entered Morgan to study business administration in 1961. But he had to interrupt his higher education in 1963 because he lacked the funds to continue. He took a job as one of the first 10 drivers at UPS in Baltimore in 1964, during the company’s early days. Two years later, he
became a UPS manager and, with much hard work and sacrifice — his own and his family’s — he climbed the corporate ladder, joining the company’s board of directors and becoming senior vice president of operations, the position from which he retired in 1998. “There are two major things I want to achieve (with the endowed scholarship fund),” he said. “Number one, to see as many of our young people graduate with a degree as possible…. The second thing that my wife and I are concerned about, and that’s why we’re providing 10 full-tuition scholarships each year, is that we want more students to get a college degree and graduate debt-free.” The Calvin and Tina Tyler Endowed Scholarship Fund was established 14 years ago with a $500,000 donation. Another $500,000 followed in 2005, and a $1-million gift was announced in 2008. The recent gift of $3 million is “… a vote of confidence in Morgan State University and Dr. Wilson and his staff,” Calvin Tyler said. “(Dr. Wilson) comes from a very humble background, and he can relate to young people who are academically qualified but just don’t have the resources to get a college education. I think he has a real understanding of the plight of those young people.” Cheryl Y. Hitchcock, Morgan’s vice president for Institutional Advancement, pointed out that 90 percent of the University’s students receive financial aid. “The Tylers’ gifts have been exceedingly helpful in our mission to bring in all students who qualify academically,” Hitchcock said. “Morgan’s alumni, as a whole, have been increasingly supportive of the university over the past six years, boosting our institution’s alumni giving rate to a percentage far above the national average. We hope this latest donation from the Tylers will inspire even greater giving.” n
MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2016
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