The Brandcenter is the training ground for people who come up with big ideas and creative solutions in advertising and marketing to build brands, impact business, and influence culture.
Across all of our programs, our ultimate purpose is to ignite the tenacious and resilient spirit within each of our students.
When you choose to support the Brandcenter, you not only join us in our commitment to developing talented, industry-ready individuals through our one-of-a-kind programs, but you also help to make the Brandcenter a reality for even more students. A scholarship can make all the difference in helping a student unleash their creativity and harness their full potential.
Your gift, no matter the size, directly impacts the personal and professional trajectories of our students. Thank you for believing in what we do.
Support the Brandcenter on VCU's Giving Day!
The university's annual Giving Day is April 24, 2024. Donations made between March 24 and April 24 will count towards our Giving Day goals.
Give to the Brandcenter
Existing Initiatives
When supporting the Brandcenter, you may choose to direct your gift toward any of the following existing initiatives.
Annual Fund
Your gift to the Annual Fund supports important initiatives such as capital improvements, technology upgrades, resources inside and outside the classrooms, and more, to enhance the student experience and educational journey.
Brandcenter Scholarship Fund
Your gift to the Brandcenter Scholarship Fund helps us to recruit and graduate highly qualified professionals who will contribute to more inclusive advertising, branding, and creative industries.
Endowed Scholarship: 2020 Vision for Social Justice
Created by professor Berwyn Hung to memorialize a pivotal moment in 2020 as the nation recognized long-standing injustices and demanded change, this scholarship is awarded to Brandcenter students who demonstrate financial need and a commitment to social good and to the principles of diversity.
Professor Berwyn Hung started the 2020 Vision for Social Justice Endowed Scholarship in the wake of the national reckoning with social inequities. “I wanted to create a scholarship to support and add more underrepresented voices at Brandcenter,” he says. “When our students graduate and advance in leadership, they impact decision-making in the industry.”
Endowed Scholarship: Agent of Change
Initiated by longtime professor Caley Cantrell (retired 2023), the Agent of Change Endowed Scholarship is designed to improve access to a Brandcenter education by supporting talented, first-year students with financial need and promoting cultural diversity among our students.
The story behind this scholarship and the creative spin on the name, Caley says, is “a play on Marvel Comics Agents of Shield, who were superheroes. The real reason is that greater diversity within our program means there is an opportunity for our graduates to improve the industries we serve. Agents of change will be change agents.”
Recipients of this scholarship will be change agents who will improve the industries we serve.
Endowed Scholarship: Brandcenter & Rising Scholarship
Created by Executive Director Vann Graves in an effort to provide a climate of inclusion and address disparities for prospective Brandcenter students, this scholarship was founded to support the Brandcenter’s ongoing commitment to diversity and in honor of the organization 600 & Rising and its goal to “advocate for Black voices to advance in advertising.”
Agencies are encouraged to support this scholarship and actively partner with Brandcenter in a commitment to our ongoing efforts to raise up a new generation of diverse, creative professionals and leaders.
By supporting our scholarship fund or one of our endowed scholarships, more students will have the opportunity to attend the Brandcenter, empowering them to excel here and opening doors for their futures. Your gift to an endowed scholarship will help bring it to a higher level, providing more funding and opportunities for deserving students.
For information on other giving options or how to create your own endowed scholarship to impact the lives of the Brandcenter students of tomorrow, please reach out to us.