Historic Black church in Virginia will fund Black student council at Mizzou, pastor says

“Although they’ve been defunded by the government, we have decided we are not going to let that student organization fail to have programming,” said Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley.

The historic Alfred Street Baptist Church announced Sunday that it would fund the Legion of Black Collegians, the Black student government that had its funding cut at the University of Missouri.

“Although they’ve been defunded by the government, we have decided we are not going to let that student organization fail to have programming,” said Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, pastor of the Alexandria, Virginia church.

“So I wanted to let you know that Alfred Street Baptist is funding the Legion of Black Collegians on the campus of the University of Missouri so that this government and this administration knows when you won’t support us, we will support our own. We take care of our own people,” he continued.

In April, the University of Missouri announced it would remove annual designated funding for the Legion of Black Collegians and several other affinity groups, starting in July, to bring the school into compliance with Justice Department restrictions on DEI practices.

The university said the groups will still be able to apply for funding, but it will no longer sponsor them directly.

“It was determined that the university must change the way we have been providing funds for these five student organizations to comply with federal requirements and avoid jeopardizing crucial funding for student financial aid, research and other university programs,” Mizzou spokesperson Christopher Ave told the Columbia Missourian.

“Blackness is under attack in the United States of America. Our history, our heritage, our rights are all being pushed back under this administration,” Wesley said at a later service.

“It just broke my heart as one who graduated from a predominantly white institution and knowing the value of a Black student union,” he said. “We moved on it, and we helped them create a separate 501(c)(3), and now we are funding that Black student organization on the campus of that white college for the world to know.”

The 220-year-old church is known for its major donations. Last year, the church donated $132,469 to wipe out the student debt of graduating seniors at Saint Augustine's University, an HBCU in Raleigh, North Carolina. In March, the congregation paid $1 million toward overdue rent for over 300 families facing eviction.

Watch the 11 am worship service at Alfred Street Baptist Church below. The announcement begins at 1:42:28.