by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
Might 4, 2025
Regardless of his medical setbacks, Dr. Anthony J. Davis, president of Livingstone School, stays dedicated to uplifting the varsity and its pupil physique.
An HBCU president is praying {that a} member of his college’s neighborhood will help him discover an organ donor.
Dr. Anthony J. Davis, president of Livingstone School, has been battling stage 5 kidney failure for practically two years. Since his prognosis, Davis has undergone virtually 10 hours of dialysis therapy nightly whereas additionally juggling the obligations of main the establishment. Throughout Livingstone’s current graduation ceremony on Might 3, he revealed his dire request of needing an organ donor.
“When the Lord is blessing, the enemy begins messing,” he shared with the category of graduates, per HBCU Gameday.
Regardless of his medical setbacks, Davis stays dedicated to uplifting the varsity and its pupil physique. He nonetheless works towards boosting enrollment and recruitment, staying on high of his targets to raise Livingstone. His tenure has additionally seen the donation of two nameless $10 million items towards the varsity.
Whereas describing his well being journey, he additionally lightheartedly famous how none of his members of the family had been eligible to be a match attributable to their differing blood sorts.
“I stated, my kids, what sort of luck do I’ve? They get their mom’s beauty and her blood sort,” he shared to laughter from the group.
His speech, whereas emotional, additionally impressed graduates to beat obstacles they could face of their lives. Davis additionally launched a “Be My Match” marketing campaign to assist the devoted educator save his life.
The “Be My Match” initiative encourages these inside and past Livingstone’s HBCU neighborhood to study extra about turning into a residing donor. Davis expressed his hope and religion that his public declaration of needing a donor would end in his neighborhood discovering a match.
Black individuals are additionally disproportionately impacted by kidney illness. Based on the Nationwide Institute of Well being, a 2023 annual report discovered that this demographic accounts for 30% of all folks with end-stage kidney illness (ESKD.) Black individuals are additionally 4 instances extra prone to die from ESKD than their white counterparts, making their skill to discover a match extra essential than ever.
With these numbers in thoughts, Davis hopes his community will amplify this marketing campaign to the plenty to assist save this HBCU supporter. As he concluded his highly effective and essential message, the category of 2025 and Davis hope to proceed on this subsequent period of their lives with new prosperity.
RELATED CONTENT: Black Lady With Pig Kidney Transplant Again On Dialysis After Physique Rejected Organ
