By Rachel Sawicki

WILMINGTON — Delaware State University is returning to Wilmington in a big way this coming semester.

For eight years, DSU’s lone upstate site on Kirkwood Highway has served graduate students and offered adult-learning programs, but a new $4.7 million building donated by Capital One on the Wilmington Riverfront is going to expand those programs and make a big impact in Delaware’s only metropolitan area.

DSU President Dr. Tony Allen said the new site will take on many of the same programs as the Kirkwood Highway facility but now in a more accessible location in Wilmington.

Undergraduate students at the main campus in Dover also will benefit from the enhanced partnership, having access to a more direct pipeline to Capital One jobs and internships.

“The return to the city itself is important to us,” Dr. Allen said. “There are a preponderance of alumni that got their start at Delaware State University and that have returned to the city and key places of leadership. We think there also are a host of prospective students that we want to have access to. And equally important, given what we believe our mission is, serving the central city in ways that we believe help it grow and thrive, are important to us.”

The Riverfront building was originally built in 1885 and renovated in 2001. Joe Westcott, Capital One’s Delaware market president, said they outgrew the building in 2018. At 35,000 square feet, six floors and an open floor plan, the building is “not small by any stretch.”

“We wanted to do something creative with this space,” Mr. Westcott said. “We could have sold it, but I think this ongoing effort to really make a meaningful enhancement of a relationship with Delaware State (University) made them the priority partner pretty quickly.”

DSU’s Kirkwood site will retain some of its former programs, while also being put to new uses. Last year, New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer awarded $5.5 million from the federal CARES Act to help the university build a Molecular Diagnostics Lab. The university will now expand that facility and its testing capabilities.

Capital One and DSU will be strengthening their recruiting relationship, as well. A recruiter for the bank will be assigned to work with the university to hire more graduates. Additionally, freshmen and sophomores will have access to skills programs, including First Gen Focus for first-generation college students and coding skill programs for STEM-focused internships.

Mr. Westcott said the partnership is also a smart business investment for Capital One.

“We believe there’s business value in having a diverse workforce, and this is in support of ensuring that we have great diverse talent in our workforce over time in the long term,” he said.

Dr. Allen said Capital One’s strengthened partnership means a lot to the university. Through networking and internships, Capital One will be with many DSU students from the moment they start school. As a historically black university, Dr. Allen said it has many first-generation college students, who go on to become first-generation corporate employees.

“Recruiting in junior and senior year is not enough,” Dr. Allen said. “What I think we’re going to see from this partnership is ultimately ongoing consistent hiring. So the fact that this is a real partnership and not just a building donation means a lot to everybody in the university community.”

Capital One launched the Capital One Impact Initiative, a $200 million, five-year commitment to support growth in underserved communities, last year. It also provides $1 million annually to the Champions for Change grant to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund.

Capital One and DSU also heavily advocate for the passage of the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act. Co-sponsored by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., this legislation aims to strengthen public-private partnerships with and invest in HBCUs.

“I think that having this hub in Wilmington is going to give us a much greater brand presence than we’ve ever had,” Dr. Allen said. “And I do think that that will translate itself directly to even more applications from Wilmington city kids, particularly those who may not be thinking about (college) as an opportunity for them.”

Dr. Allen also noted that DSU now has a fully funded in-state tuition scholarship. Enacted last legislative session, the INSPIRE Scholarship pays any student’s tuition with a 2.75 high school GPA in full. Those students must commit to 10 hours of volunteer community service a semester, as well.

“Regardless of the type of college or university, everybody is grappling with the risk-reward for the student and their family,” Dr. Allen said. “I think it behooves all of us in the higher-ed space to be thinking about work-ready opportunities for all of our students from the moment they actually begin their college process.”