The United Negro College Fund was founded on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Paterson, President of the Tuskegee Institute, and Mary McLeod Bethune, an advisor to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The goal of the UNCF is to provide minorities with financial assistance in order to pursue a higher education.

For nearly 70 years, UNCF has raised more than $3.3 billion in order to help more than 400,000 students attend and graduate from college, including 60,000 each school year. In addition, UNCF provides operating funds for its 38 member colleges including Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Fisk University and Bethune-Cookman University.

In 1972 Forest Long from the Young & Rubicam advertising agency came up with UNCF's now famous motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

For more, check out the UNCF website.

(Photo:www.uncf.org)