Ralph Lauren Foundation's HBCUs Scholarship

This week, the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation launched a scholarship program with a 2 million dollar commitment to support eligible students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

The Foundation, which has contributed to the COVID-19 Response Fund for the World Health Organization and funded resources for cancer care, aims to help lessen the financial burdens of those from underserved communities enrolled at institutions like Spelman College and Morehouse College of Atlanta, Georgia, as well as ten additional HBCUs. Unmet funding needs, enrollment rates, curricula fostering careers in retail, and proximity to Ralph Lauren Corporation’s U.S. operation centers are considered in school selection.

The global goals of sustainability not only involve protecting the environment and its resources but also ensuring equitable access to health, opportunity, and education for every citizen of the world. The Ralph Lauren Corporation works to uphold its commitment to those ends – and address racial injustices – by partnering with educational institutions to offer mentorships, internships, and development programs to advance diversity and inclusion within the fashion industry and other careers paths. Each scholarship will also encourage paying it forward through community service participation.

Recognizing the common cause of Ralph Lauren and Morehouse College, its president, David A. Thomas, Ph.D., stated, “Through educational investments, which help elevate the creativity and professional competence of talented students of color, we today empower the innovators who will develop the fashions, products and services the world will demand tomorrow.” The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation was established in 2001 to advance the global fashion brand’s advocacy and invest in meaningful change in the areas of cancer prevention, environmental protection, and community resilience.