‘Somebody Had To’ Step Up: With New Vanguard Society, PhD Project Plans For The Long Term

Back in March, the PhD Project found itself facing an unprecedented attack. The 31-year-old nonprofit — credited with creating a crucial and widely respected pipeline for diversifying business school faculties — was threatened with a federal investigation by the Trump administration’s Department of Education, accused of engaging in race-exclusionary practices that violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Several longtime university partners publicly disavowed the organization, cutting off a crucial source of funding and casting doubt on its future.

Seven months later, the PhD Project is still standing, and forging a path forward. This month it unveiled the Vanguard Society, a new fundraising initiative aimed at rallying alumni, faculty, and friends at a time when the organization is under siege. Within weeks of the launch, the effort received a dramatic boost: George and Angeliki Marakas, longtime allies of the Project, stepped forward with a $100,000 gift to launch the campaign.

“Somebody had to,” says George Marakas, associate dean for research and doctoral studies at Florida International University in Miami. “This is an important organization, and it’s being strangled by political ideology differences. That isn’t what it’s about, and that’s not what I’m about.”

ASKING IN NEW WAYS

For Alfonzo Alexander, who was only a few months into his role as the PhD Project’s CEO when the group was caught up in the Trump administration’s onslaught against higher education, the Vanguard Society represents both necessity and opportunity. With universities withdrawing support, the nonprofit had to find new revenue streams. 

Alexander pinpointed one area where the organization could profitably change course: the PhD Project had never, in its more than three decades, consistently asked alumni and faculty to contribute. Up went the bat signal to the nonprofit’s more than 1,600 alumni and 250 current doctoral students, as well as the many collaborators and allies it has worked with over the decades.

“When we looked at our history and the amount of work that we have done, it did not match up with the amount of individual contributions we received,” Alexander tells Poets&Quants. “For many of our alumni and faculty, they haven’t contributed because we haven’t asked.”

The Vanguard Society is designed to change that. With tiered giving levels from $1,000 to $10,000 — and a Vanguard Club option for doctoral students at just $20 a month — Alexander hopes to build a sustainable base of support. “The Vanguard Society gives us an opportunity to ask people to help support our mission, and to replace the funding we lost from universities,” he says.

A GIFT WITH SYMBOLIC WEIGHT

The Marakas family’s contribution set the tone for the new effort. Though not an alum, George Marakas has been connected to the PhD Project since the late 1990s, when he chaired the dissertation of a member, a deaf doctoral student named Isaac Agboola. Their year-and-a-half collaboration — conducted through lip-reading, sign language, and a translator — left a lasting impression.

“Isaac turned me on to the PhD Project, and I thought it was a really cool thing,” Marakas tells P&Q. Since then, he has mentored doctoral students, written tenure letters, and presented at annual conferences — “Anytime they’ve asked me to help, I was happy to do it.” He says the Project’s original intention — to create a pathway for minorities of all shapes and sizes to academia — was “noble, necessary, and highly successful.”

The decision to give came suddenly, Marakas says, but felt inevitable. “We were coming up the elevator at a conference on our way to the PhD Project reception,” he says. “I turned to my wife and said, ‘Hey, you want to give them some money?’ She said, ‘Yeah, okay.’ And we did. This wasn’t some big premeditated thing. They needed help, and I happened to be standing there.”

THE COST OF POLITICS

The need is real. Alexander points to a climate where, among other new and sudden restrictions, students researching women leaders or diverse populations in corporate America struggle to secure funding, and where universities restrict faculty from attending conferences with diversity-related themes.

“We’re constantly getting information that says it’s making it difficult to continue to be a bridge-builder between talented individuals and academic institutions,” he says. “That can be challenging — students may have to leave, faculty may be forced to change institutions.”

Marakas sees the same dynamic at work. “This is an important organization, and it’s being strangled by political ideology differences,” he says. “Suppressing discussion about equity and inclusion is antithetical to what academia should be. Supporting the PhD Project is one way to make sure it doesn’t disappear.”

The backlash, Alexander says, is fueled by misconceptions. “One is that business schools that accept people from various backgrounds are lowering their standards. That is simply not true. Anyone who completes a Ph.D. program is exceptionally talented. The other misconception is that diverse candidates are taking opportunities from others. That’s not the case either.”

STILL STANDING, STILL GROWING

Alexander says amid all the challenges, the PhD Project is not retreating but reinventing itself. 

“What we’re embracing is unity amongst our community,” he says. “And based on that unity, it gives us the ability to continue to do our work. I think we’re building momentum.”

His vision for the next few years is twofold: replace the revenue lost from universities with contributions through the Vanguard Society and new programmatic offerings, and continue broadening the pool of talent entering academia. That includes leveraging subject-matter experts in the community for consulting and research projects that generate income while extending impact.

“We believe in the power of education, representation, and mentorship,” Alexander says. “And we’re not backing down. We’re still standing, and we’re building a future that ensures tomorrow’s business leaders see themselves reflected at the front of the classroom.”

Learn more about the PhD Project here.

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