Black Resource Center Gift is a Personal Statement
Attorney Steven Bishop is supporting a scholarship endowment and a community care fund.
“We are grateful for Mr. Bishop and his generous gift to support the Black Resource Center.”
The largest gift ever pledged to San Diego State University’s Black Resource Center comes from a San Diego attorney who decided he couldn’t just passively observe the change brought about by the newfound attention to racial injustice in the United States.
Steven Bishop, who finished his coursework in December 1973, wanted to become an active participant in the nation’s reform.
Bishop’s $50,000 matching gift to the center is divided evenly between a scholarship endowment and a community care fund, which supports students in financial need in partnership with the Economic Crisis Response Team. He said his faith played a key role in his decision on how to help.
“In the midst of the widespread incidents of racial injustice and the renewed groundswell movement to effect real change rather than mere rhetoric,” Bishop said in a statement to SDSU’s University Relations and Development office, “I prayed for wisdom as to how God might call me, as a privileged white man, to respond.”
He said he then realized that by “merely giving ‘lip service’ to my sense of outrage over the problems I personally witnessed in many years as an observer, I was actually perpetuating those problems.”
Bishop grew up in La Mesa and earned a bachelor’s degree from SDSU’s School of Communication, a first-generation college student. He graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law and has practiced family law for more than four decades. Bishop has also signed onto SDSU’s Pledge of Support for the Black community.
Bishop and his wife, Linda, live in San Diego’s Talmadge neighborhood and are season-ticket holders for Aztecs men’s basketball.
Housed at 5723 Lindo Paseo, the Black Resource Center conducts programs centered upon community building, academic achievement, career development, health and wellness, leadership and service, and social justice.
“We are grateful for Mr. Bishop and his generous gift to support the Black Resource Center,” said J. Luke Wood, vice president of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity. “As President Adela de la Torre continually reminds us, ‘We must do better and be better, and we will.’ This movement must be supported with action, and Mr. Bishop is doing just that.”
De la Torre announced this month that the university's five-year strategic plan, "We Rise We Defy: Transcending Borders, Transforming Lives," is now underway. A major component of the plan is to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion for students, faculty and staff.
Wood added, “We must continue to educate and empower our Black students, providing resources, tools, and opportunities. With Mr. Bishop’s support, we are able to match up to $50,000 to help make a greater impact for our students.”
Bonnie Reddick, director of the Black Resource Center, said the gift will have a powerful impact on students with needs ranging from assistance for tuition to food and supplies.
“One of the biggest barriers Black students face when pursuing a college degree is paying tuition and fees without incurring incredible debt,” Reddick said.
Contributions toward Bishop’s Black Resource Center Endowed Scholarship matching gift can be made online.
To learn more about this SDSU alumnus, please visit www.stevenmbishop.com.
