In 1943, Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, president of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), wrote an open letter in the Pittsburgh Courier to the presidents of our nation’s private black colleges urging them to "pool their small monies and make a united appeal to the national conscience." His words would soon become the guiding principle for one of the world’s leading education assistance organizations. One year later, the United Negro College Fund was incorporated on April 25, 1944 with 27 member colleges and a combined enrollment of 14,000 students.