THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 13, 1995 TAG: 9505130252
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Elizabeth City State University has wrapped up a five-year, $5 million fund-raising campaign more than six months early.
At commencement this week, the school received a record $1.6 million donation.
A. Muhammad Mahdi of BFI Communications, a San Francisco-based, long-distance telephone company, announced the gift - and received an honorary doctorate - Sunday.
The gift resulted from Mahdi's discussions with actor-singer Clifton Davis, a well-known personality who joined ECSU as interim vice chancellor for development in January.
Mahdi spent 13 years as a business manager and consultant to Muhammad Ali, university officials said.
ECSU's campaign aimed to collect $5 million for scholarships by December 1995.
In the past two years, the school has stepped up campaign efforts by convening a board of corporate advisers from across the country and landing such stars as Davis and actor Whitman Mayo to discuss the school with high-powered friends.
Mahdi, said interim University Relations Director Yvonne Wagner, ``had never really heard of Elizabeth City State until Clifton.''
Davis was brought in to finish the campaign, Wagner said. But he has no plan to leave any time soon. Davis is communicating with other corporations and is planning a celebrity golf tournament, among other projects.
``He says everything else that goes on is gravy,'' she said. ``He's got several other things on the fire. . . . Right now I think he's excited about academia.'' by CNB