N.C. A&T Alumni Times

When North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University announced a $1.5 million gift in June from the BB&T banking and financial services corporation to Aggie athletics, the front-page news turned more than a few heads.

Corporate dollars are often hard to come by in university athletics programs, even at the Division I level. The BB&T gift, which includes naming rights for 15 years at the A&T stadium, is the first of its kind in the MEAC, and perhaps even in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), in which A&T competes. In its first year, it boosted athletics’ corporate support by 25 percent over its previous best year.

The funds will go toward improvements for the 37-year-old stadium -- home to the championship women’s and men’s track teams, as well as the football program – and perhaps just as importantly open the door to sponsorship from other regional corporations interested in being part of the growing success at A&T. Athletics Director Earl Hilton called it a “game changer” for the program’s corporate relations efforts.

Hilton also says it will also have an impact beyond student athletes for the student body overall: It will obviate the need for $9 per student in avoided athletics fees over the next 15 years.

For a university pursing private support more aggressively than ever – A&T recorded a record year in private giving in 2016-17, and just closed the books on a fiscal year officials say will significantly surpass that total – the BB&T gift serves as another illustration of A&T not only charting its own destiny, but providing a solid example for both HBCU and FCS peers to follow.