Ridley Fast Facts

Learning

Ridley is an umbrella fund comprised of 13 different scholarships all of which ensure that African-American students of the highest academic caliber attend the University.

Since inception the Ridley family of funds have awarded nearly $500,000 in scholarships.

For the 12th consecutive year, the University of Virginia has posted the highest graduation rate for African-American students among major public institutions, according to an annual survey published in March 2006 by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Black Enterprise magazine named UVA as one of the "50 Top Colleges for African Americans".

Some of the Ridley funds encourage enrichment in particular areas of study such as the Keller Scholarship which is awarded for study abroad and the Batipps Scholarship which is awarded to encourage literary pursuits.

Leadership

30% of African-American alumni give to UVA which is higher than the general alumni giving participation of 20%.

Prior to the formation of Ridley in 1987, African-American giving was only 3%.

Over the past three years the fund has increased exponentially from $1.3M to $2.4M. Since 2000, the average donor contribution has doubled to $800.

Legacy

Ridley is named for the first black graduate of the University of Virginia who received a doctorate of education from the Curry School in 1953.

Ridley is the first African-American scholarship board in the U.S. initiated and funded by Alumni.

The Ridley board has a current goal of raising an additional $5M within the next 5 years Leadership.