The University of the Virgin Islands’ Alumni Association on Friday won the National Alumni Association of the Year Award for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The award was announced at the Third Annual HBCU Awards on the Jackson State University campus in Mississippi. The award nomination is partly based on the national exposure the UVI received as a result of this accomplishment.

The award is presented by the Center for HBCU Advocacy, Inc. The other HBCUs nominated for the award were Tuskegee University, Spelman College, Morgan State University, and Winston-Salem State University

The university earned the nomination because it increased its alumni’s giving rate by 223 percent in 2012 through aggressive and comprehensive fundraising strategy termed “50 for 50,” encouraging 50 percent of UVI graduates to give back to the university during the institution’s 50th anniversary year.

President David Hall promoted this achievement in an article titled “Virgin Islands Miracle,” which was featured in the Huffington Post, the HBCU Digest, the Tom Joyner Foundation website, HBCU Connect and was involved in an Academic Impressions case study.

The HBCU Awards acknowledge and celebrate achievement at historically black colleges and universities throughout the United States. The HBCU Awards is the first and only event to recognize the influence and impact of HBCUs on American culture.

UVI’s “50 for 50” fundraising campaign aimed to increase the annual giving rate from 13 percent to 50 percent. UVI fell short at 42 percent, but to put this number into perspective, many HBCUs have alumni giving rates that are less than 10 percent and UVI’s alumni giving rate in 2009 was six percent.