Agency Commits $8M for Health Center at Philander Smith

Science and Health Center, Philander Smith College, Little Rock, AK

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries will contribute $8 million for the construction of a science and health mission center at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AK

Board directors approved the expenditure during their April 3-6 meeting.  The money - to be paid in $2 million increments over a four-year period - comes from the board's Harry R. Kendall Fund, and the center will bear his name.

Born into a poor Kentucky farm family in 1876, Kendall began working in the insurance industry at the age of 17.  After a long career with Prudential, he led Washington National Insurance Co., the first insurance agency to serve the African-American community.  When he died in 1958, he left the bulk of his estate -- $12 million - to a trust fund for charitable, religious and educational institutions.

About 30 percent of that trust went to the Board of Hospital and Homes of the Methodist Church, which later became the Health and Welfare Ministries Department of the Board of Global Ministries.  For 40 years, according to the Rev. Paul Dirdak, chief executive of the board's health and relief unit, the fund was used to support grants for medical training for African Americans and for community institutions serving the health needs of African Americans and "poor whites."

The strength of the stock market has increased both the fund's earnings and its total value, he said. In 1998, when the trust funds were distributed among the various beneficiaries, the Health and Welfare unit received $15.9 million.  After spending over $1 million for programs and projects during 1998 and 1999, the fund balances at the end of 1999 were $20.7 million.

Although the board now has access to the total principal, it will still retain a sufficient amount to continue grants, Dirdak added.

Philander Smith, a United Methodist-related historically black college, accepts many students with academic promise from the Arkansas Delta, one of the poorest economic regions of the country.  Dirdak said the health science students at the college have a 90 percent acceptance rate to medical schools.

The Harry R. Kendall Science and Health Mission Center will help undergraduate students prepare for admission to graduate programs in medicine and health.  Included will be a feeder system to Meharry Medical College, a United Methodist historically black college in Nashville, Tenn., that serves as a graduate school of medicine, along with internships in board-related projects.  Philander Smith will provide an endowment for faculty positions and the building's maintenance.