Bethune-Cookman University Kicks Off Fundraising Event For Bethune Statue In D.C.

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Daytona Beach, FL - Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) will host a kick-off event on Friday to raise funds to put a statue of B-CU's founder and civil rights leader, Mary McLeod Bethune, in the National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C. The university says it will begin the fundraising campaign on April 20 at 2 PM on the lawn of the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation, a National Historic Landmark located at 640 Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd. in Daytona Beach. Governor Rick Scott signed a bill in March in order to replace a statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith with a statue of Bethune in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. The bill received nearly unanimous support in the Florida House and Senate. Read more here. B-CU says that Bethune will be the first African-American woman honored by a state in National Statuary Hall, and the cost of the project is $400,000. B-CU alumni and students will also be offered opportunities to be involved in the campaign. For more information about the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune National Statuary Hall Campaign, contact B-CU's Office of Legacy and Women’s Initiative at 386-481-2374. Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2018.