May 24, 2013
ATLANTA (AP) -- The foundation named for the late singer Ray Charles has announced that it is giving a $3 million gift to Atlanta's historically black Morehouse College.
The announcement was made Saturday night by Ray Charles' Foundation president Valerie Ervin during the college's "A Candle in the Dark" gala. The gala is the college's largest fundraising event.
The gift will secure the naming of the academic wing of the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse for Charles' mother, Aretha Robinson.
Charles received an honorary degree from Morehouse in 2001. Later that year he made two $1 million gifts to the college. The naming of the academic wing of the performing arts center secured Charles' dream to leave a lasting legacy for his mother. Charles died in 2004.
