The United Negro College Fund was founded on April 25, 1944.
In celebration of the 80th anniversary this year, the First UNCF Omni-Channel Radio-Thon, a 24-hour event to raise money for college scholarships, will be held Thursday, April 25, at 5 a.m. CDT, through Friday, April 26, at 5 a.m. CDT, on the FM Omni-Channel Radio Station ™.
The digital station is available for download via the Apple or Google store. Donations can be made via the link on the App. Also, donate at www.OmniChannelRadio.com or www.UNCF.org/Chicago.
The entire day of FM Omni-Channel programming will be dedicated to UNCF, starting with “The Ramonski Luv Morning Show,” at 5 a.m.
Adapting the format of the United Negro College Fund Telethon (formerly the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon for UNCF), televised for several decades, the first UNCF Omni-Channel Radio-Thon will feature a “parade” of local and national celebrities from music, media, sports, and entertainment who will call in or stop by the station to talk about the importance of supporting UNCF.
“This UNCF Omni-Channel Radio-Thon is an example of how the global community can come together to give our young people a fighting chance,” said Lisa Rollins, Regional Workplace Director for UNCF.
Entertainers and music legends include Gerald Alston (The Manhattans), Marshall Thompson (The Chi-Lites), Billy Brown (Ray, Goodman & Brown), Russell Thompkins, Jr. (The Stylistics), Ron Isley (The Isley Brothers), Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear), Heatwave, Enchantment, Willie Clayton, Keith Washington, Copeland Davis, Deitra Farr, Next Movement, Loretta Holloway, Melanie Moore, Ray Parker, Jr, Howard Hewitt, Darcus Gates, Dennis Edward’s Temptations Revue, Linda Woodson, Theo Huff, Gene Chandler, The Whispers, Evelyn “Champagne” King, LEON, Claudette Robinson, Pastor Shirley Caesar and more. Plus, Retired National Football League Players will participate.
“Our future generation is in a state of emergency. Everyone that I spoke with alluded to this which is why each one immediately said ‘yes’ to lending his/her star status to encourage everyone to give,” said Entertainment Director Mable Buckner, who coordinated the celebrity list for the FM Omni-Channel.
From 2022 – 2023, 515 students in the Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri region received UNCF scholarships.
Each year, UNCF awards more than $100 million in scholarships to students attending more than 1,100 schools across the country including its prestigious network of 37 HBCUs. Seventy percent of Black doctors, 50 percent of Black lawyers, and 80 percent of Black judges attended HBCU schools.
Vice President Kamala Harris attended Howard University, an HBCU school. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., attended Morehouse College, an HBCU school. The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.,
W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Toni Morrison, Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephen A. Smith and Oprah Winfrey all attended HBCU schools.
HBCU schools are open to all ethnicities.