FAMU Tragedy Offset by Atlanta Mayor’s Masked Ball to Aid UNCF and HBCUs (Photos)

By Terry Shropshire
Dec 18, 2011
6:03 pm

Atlanta’s Mayor’s Masked Ball, hosted by Kasim Reed, provided a needed respite from the national narrative focused on HBCUs in light of the Florida A&M University tragedy.

In raising over a million dollars for the United Negro College Fund, a major contributor to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Masked Ball black-tie gala at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta helped ensure that more worthy students will continue on with their higher education. The likes of producer Roger Bobb, actresses Demetria McKinney and Terri Vaughn, producer Reuben Cannon, baseball legend Hank Aaron and many other celebrities and dignitaries were on hand for this exclusive soiree.

Scarlett Pressley Brown, the vice president of Delta Airlines Foundation and director of community affairs, said the problems that beset FAMU will be fixed and that it will provide a positive silver lining that the nation’s urban community can learn and benefit from moving forward. There is no question, however, that HBCUs and the UNCF are invaluable assets to the African American community.

“I think it’s important that Delta remains a partner with the United Negro College Fund and that we sponsor events like this because there is no doubt that the youth are our future. If we don’t invest in our future, there’s no telling what will happen,” she says. “I have five children and one is an educator and she loves what she does. And the only way — the only way — that our children are going to continue to succeed is that we continue to do our job, and that is maintain relationships with organizations like this, who do so much for colleges and universities.”