The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) hosted an exclusive brunch in the Hamptons. Approximately $125,000 was raised and more than 100 people were in attendance. Charles Merinoff, a member of the TMCF Board of Directors and co-chairman of Breakthru Beverage Group, donated $25,000 in honor of Racquel Oden’s leadership as chair of the TMCF Board of Directors. Merinoff’s children matched his donation for a total of $50,000.
The friends and supporters of TMCF gathered in Sag Harbor, New York to support the next generation of academic and professional high performers from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), historically Black community colleges (HBCCs) and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs).
Oden served as host for the event, along with host committee members Melonie Parker (Google), Tatia Williams (NBA), Charlie Merinoff (Breakthru Beverage Group) and Sandra Buchanan (GCM Grosvenor). Oden also hosted the first-ever Hamptons event in the summer of 2024.
“This wonderful event couldn’t come together without the hard work of the host committee,” Oden said. “We’re here because of Dr. N. Joyce Payne’s visionary leadership, who has always advocated that supporting HBCUs advances society as a whole.”
During the event, as a band played and guests dined in a setting of flowers and a modest breeze, conversations turned to commitments to ensure HBCUs continue to enrich the national intellection direction.
Some guests spoke about new commitments from friends, family members and coworkers. Others added that HBCU supporters should double down, embracing the institutions that created the nation’s Black middle class.
Dr. Harry L. Williams, president & CEO of TMCF, provided remarks and credited HBCUs for creating high percentages of the Black engineers, lawyers, accountants and other professionals whose skills shape and direct so many American endeavors.
“It’s truly incredible what HBCUs and their students have accomplished over the years, producing more while receiving less,” Dr. Williams said. “America is a product of HBCUs — regardless of what’s stamped on anyone’s diploma.”
Those in attendance spanned generations, from those mature enough to witness the shifts that followed Johnson’s Great Society to recent graduates who credit HBCUs for helping them fully see and understand who they are and what they could achieve.
“We have to stop saying, ‘We just graduated,’” one attendee said. “It’s been seven years. We didn’t just graduate. Now, it’s our time to lead, our time to organize events like these.”
Chelsea Grant, a former Hennessey Fellow, spoke enthusiastically about how TMCF enriched her life — from providing the leadership training that’s helping her achieve professionally to introducing her to her husband, a member of her TMCF cohort.
At the end of the event, the message was clear: Regardless of what happens in national politics, the commitment to supporting HBCUs remains unchanged. And, TMCF provides supporters several options to continue financial commitments to HBCUs.
