Miles grad makes largest alum donation in school history, hopes to be catalyst for giving to HBCUs – AL.com

This is an opinion column.

Dale Thornton embodies what can happen when a child is raised by an empowering example. Now, he wants to be one.

Dale is the son of Larry Thornton, a man who is a gifted artist, an inspiring author and speaker, one of Alabamas most successful entrepreneurs, and a respected board member at several prominent companies, including McDonalds and Coca-Cola. A man, too, who gained custody of his 10-year-old son following a divorce, who attended PTA meetings, washed and folded clothes, who hugged his son all while birthing his first McDonalds franchise. A man who taught and showed his son how to be.

I wanted, the father says, to shape his thinking.

I was able to see it firsthand, Dale tells me separately. Being on time, looking people in the eye, being a man of your word. I was able to see him grow as I grew. Its been a great journey to be on with him. I consider myself very blessed and lucky.

Together, the two men yes, men, Dale is 41 now, with a son, too own seven McDonalds franchises in the Birmingham area. Larry opened his first in 1992; Dale followed his fathers path: After learning at his fathers hip, initially earning $1 an hour for his time in the store, the son opened his first McDonalds franchise at the age of 25. He was then the youngest franchise owner in the chains vast system.

Because he had an example.

In 2011, Larry bequeathed $1,000,000 to his alma mater, Alabama State, the largest such donation by an alum in the institutions history.

Now, Dale is treading in his fathers footprints again and hoping others will follow.

A graduate of Miles College, Dale is bequeathing $500,000 to his alma mater. Hes slated to publicly announce it Saturday morning, just ahead of the schools homecoming game against Lane. The amount, too, is the largest donation by an alum in that institutions history.

Dale didnt know that when he settled on the amount. Because, youve had Dr. Bill Cosby [make a donation], youve had Charles Barkley, but theyre not alums, so, wow. Thats pretty cool.

You almost wouldnt have heard about it, but that, he was persuaded, wouldnt have been an example to other Miles alums and other young graduates of historically Black colleges and universities.

I wouldve just donated anonymously, Dale said. But my goal is to get other Miles and HBCU alums to do something similar maybe not the same amount. Look back at what Miles has given us. Many hands make light work. What if people gave $10,000, $15,000, $20,000, when theyre 40 or below, relatively healthy, not on too many medicines.

Thats how the University of Alabama, your predominantly white institutions do it with endowments. This is something were just not privy to. Theres nothing wrong with us. Its just lack of education. If you dont know, you dont know. Imagine what we could do not just for Miles but for Alabama A&M, for Alabama state, for Morehouse. Because the HBCU is in trouble.

Hopefully, I can be a catalyst.

Larry (center) and son Dale (left) Thornton own seven McDonald's franchises in the Birmingham area. As the father was an example for the son, Dale is striving to be for his son, Tre (right).

Army pivot

Born in North Birmingham and raised in Center Point, Dale Thornton originally wanted to join the Army after graduating from Chelsea High School. That wasnt the thinking Larry was trying to shape. My father kept throwing my [mailings] away, the son says with a laugh. Im glad he did; I wouldnt have made it.

Larry knew then-Miles President Dr. Albert Sloan and arranged an interview. The school captured Dale with a video presentation narrated by Christopher Kid Reid of the popular hip-hop due Kid N Play, who attended Miles. After that, I ended up falling in love with the school, he said. It was like magic.

Dale wasnt much of a scholar, he admits. But like many who attend HBCUs, he was massaged by attentive, available professors and other services, like counseling and tutoring. Services certainly available at non-HBCUs but often more embracing for young Black students still searching for their path. Miles shaped a lot of who I am today, Dale says.

Shaped in many ways. During his sophomore year, he fell in love with a fellow student and they had a child, a boy. They named him Tre. That focused Dale even further, just trying to buy diapers and pay for day care, he says. There werent any more Jordans, expensive jeans or partying. It was buying Similac and making sure he was taken care of. That was my first priority because I didnt want my parents or hers to have to [help us].

So, my career path was pretty much I was just gonna go to school and figure it out as I went.

Larry didnt stop shaping his sons thinking, of course. Didnt stop being an example. Dale and Larry were talking one day. I asked him what it would take for me to get into the franchise development program.

Bequest breakdown

Dale Thorntons bequest is a creative compilation, anchored by a $250,000 life insurance policy, of which Miles is the beneficiary. That wont be good until I pass, which I hope is not for a long time, Dale says jovially. Dale and Larry will contribute a portion any speaking they receive to the school. Additionally, several Miles students will receive a paid, immersive management training experience in all aspects of the franchises, shadowing Larry and Dale (much like Dale shadowed his father), along with Director of Administration Marko Herbert and Marketing Director Stephanie Drew and others. Finally, McDonalds corporate is contributing $50,000.

Dale will give another $5,000 to the Miles band, money from the National Black McDonalds Operators Thurgood Marshall Fund.

Hes done the math on the potential impact of his challenge to other alums. Miles has about 10 graduate chapters around the nation and many chapter presidents, as well as the national chapter president, are scheduled to join him on Saturday. I want to see how I can get people in the Birmingham chapter [to contribute] first, he says, then move to Atlanta and other bigger cities. I want to shine a light on this [challenge] because as we get older, the people on whose shoulders we stood wont be here. Its my eras responsibility to make Miles and HBCUs significant fifty to a hundred years into the future.

Miles grad Dale Thornton (left) $500,000 donation to President Bobbie Knight and Dr. Steven Hairston, VP Institutional Advancement

In the last three years, Dale and Larry added three franchises to their portfolio.

To be honest with you, Im not done, Dale shared. It is not for more money. Its just to be able to give better benefits and other things. I dont want to have 20 and all that. I dont want to get that big. I can use a couple of more, because we can do scholarships, theres another Mayor Randall Woodfin out there, another Dale Thornton. We want to be able to cultivate them. We cant wait for our students to get to high school because by that time, theyve already made the decision and theyre already doing what theyre going to do. We can do more for the community.

They can be. They can be examples.

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Roy S. Johnson is a 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary and winner of 2021 Edward R. Murrow prize for podcasts: Unjustifiable, co-hosted with John Archibald. His column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Press-Register. Reach him at rjohnson@al.com, follow him at twitter.com/roysj, or on Instagram @roysj.

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Miles grad makes largest alum donation in school history, hopes to be catalyst for giving to HBCUs - AL.com