San Diego State University’s Black Resource Center will be renamed in honor of a former slave and his wife thanks to a $5 million donation, school officials announced Monday.
SDSU President Adela de la Torre said the gift comes from brothers Lloyd Dong Jr. and Ron Dong in honor of the late Gus and Emma Thompson, and will benefit the center.
Gus Thompson was born into slavery in Kentucky. Several years after emancipation, he made his way to Coronado. According to the brothers, Mr. Thompson was the only person who would rent to their father, a Chinese-American immigrant.
The official name of he BRC has not yet been decided.
The announcement was made during SDSU’s Strategic Plan Celebration and Community Update, a university-wide event to commemorate the progress made since the university’s strategic plan launch in August 2020.
Since then, SDSU has seen record-breaking levels of external funding for research, new buildings and other construction underway, significant improvements to student success metrics, including graduation rates, and a large suite of new academic program offerings, centers and institutes, faculty and staff hires and donor support, officials said.
In the fourth year of the five-year plan, 75% of the university’s strategic plan goals have been completed.