Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx (l) greets billionaire businessman C.D. Spangler Jr. Moments earlier, Spangler had announced a $1 million scholarship fund to encourage black males at West Charlotte High to stay in school. 12/16/09 (Photo:Qcitymetro.com)

C.D. Spangler Jr, one of the nation’s richest men, today gave more than $4.5 milion to various education-related causes in Charlotte, including $2 million in college scholarships for African American males who graduate from West Charlotte High School.

The Anthony Foxx Scholarships, as they were named, are meant to reduce the drop-out rate for African American males at the school, Spangler said.

The Spangler family has a special connection to West Charlotte High. Spangler said that as a college student one summer he worked with a construction crew laying the school's foundation. One of his daughters later graduated from West Charlotte, he said.

Spangler later made a fortune in construction and banking. Forbes magazine this year estimated his net worth at $1.6 billion.

The Foxx scholarships he announced will equal $1,000 for any black male who graduates from West Charlotte and goes on to attend Central Piedmont Community College or one of the 16 University of North Carolina campuses. The $2 million will be divided equally between the two schools.

Spangler gave an additional $50,000 to cover application fees for West Charlotte students of any race or gender applying to a UNC campus. CPCC has no no application fee.

Spangler said he hopes the $2 million gift would encourage parents, grandparents and ministers to keep young black males in school. He said he named the scholarships after Foxx not as a personal honor but to give inspiration to struggling teens. Foxx, recently sworn in as Charlotte second African American mayor, is a graduate of West Charlotte High.

Spangler called the scholarships an experiemental program that may or may not work. But if even one student is kept in school, he said, then he would count it as money well spent.

Spangler noted that more than half the black males who enter West Charlotte as freshmen never graduate. West Charlotte also scores among the lowest-performing CMS schools as measured by end-of-grade testing. About 70 percent of its students also qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, a measure of poverty.

Foxx said that while the scholarships were not meant to honor him personally, they do pay tribute to his family, neighbors and many others who encouraged him to achieve.

“If there is any message that this scholarship sends,” he said, it’s really a challenge scholarship. It says that if you reach up, someone will be there to help you get over the finish line.”

UNC system President Erskine Bowles called Spangler’s gifts “an investment in the future of Charlotte.”

“You’ve given people hope, and hope is hard to find today,” he said.

Editor's Note: This breaking news story will be updated to include other Spangler recipients.

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