A man who once had to drop out of Morgan State University because of money, former UPS executive Calvin Tyler Jr., and his wife have donated $20 million to the Baltimore historically Black college, the largest endowment in its history.
According to the school, the contribution is believed to be the largest of its kind to any historically Black college or university from an alum.
Tyler enrolled at Morgan State College in 1961 to study business administration. The first of his family to attend college, he dropped out two years later because of money. In 1964, he eventually took on a job as one of UPS’ first 10 drivers in Baltimore.
Tyler worked his way up the corporate ladder, finishing as senior vice president of operations before retiring in 1998 and joining the company’s board of directors.
“My wife and I have become keenly aware of the effect that the pandemic has had on a number of young people trying to get an education and we have the resources to help a lot of young people,” Tyler said. “This is why we are increasing our commitment at Morgan; we want to have more full-tuition scholarships offered to young people so that they can graduate from college and enter the next stage of their life debt free.”
Morgan State said the most recent gift will increase an endowed scholarship already established in the Tylers’ name.
In 2016, the Tylers made a commitment of $5 million to the university, at the time the largest in Morgan’s history. The Calvin and Tina Tyler Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 to provide full-tuition scholarships for select need-based students residing in the Tylers’ hometown of Baltimore.
Students applying for the Tyler Scholarship must meet certain financial criteria and maintain a minimum GPA requirement of 2.5.
“My wife and I have become keenly aware of the effect that the pandemic has had on a number of young people trying to get an education and we have the resources to help a lot of young people."
“Endowed scholarships and other gifts have far-reaching implications for any institution, but for a public, urban university like Morgan, with students from a broad spectrum of academic, social and economic backgrounds, the need is especially great,” said Donna Howard, vice president for institutional advancement. “We are forever grateful to the Tylers for their unrelenting charity to alma mater. The impact of their generosity will have a prevailing effect fostering Morgan-made leaders for generations.”
To date, the endowed fund has supported 222 Morgan students by way of 46 full-tuition and 176 partial scholarships, with the promise of benefiting more “Tyler Scholars” with the increased multimillion-dollar pledge and expanded scope.
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