The leaders of both of Raleigh’s HBCUs met with the city’s Economic Development and Innovation Committee to discuss how their institutions can get more city funding. President Paulette Dillard of Shaw University and Interim President Marcus Burgess of Saint Augustine’s University met inside City Hall on Tuesday afternoon with what they believed was going to be an update on what the city had been doing for the past year to increase funding for the schools. “Relationships matter. You can’t just walk in cold and ask for money,” said Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin. “It doesn’t work that way.” Dillard at one point shot back. “I’m kissing babies and I’m shaking hands and I’ve got relationships out the wazoo.”
The back-and-forth between the presidents and city leaders came amid Dillard and Burgess seemingly pushing for city leaders and the local business community to leverage their pocketbooks to help fund the universities. “We are in a fight for survival,” commented Burgess. “Let’s not kid ourselves.”
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