Brothers Ron and Lloyd Dong Jr. will donate around $5 million to San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Black Resource Center (BRC) to honor Emma and Gus Thompson, the Black couple who rented and eventually sold their house to the Dongs’ Chinese-immigrant parents at a time when they faced anti-Asian sentiment and racially discriminatory housing covenants, The Washington Post reports. The Dongs plan to donate two-thirds of the proceeds from the sale of the house—located in the resort town of Coronado, San Diego—to the BRC, which the Dongs asked to be renamed for Emma and Gus Thompson.
The exact gift amount will be finalized following the sale of the house, but the donation will be the largest given to the BRC, says Tonika Green, SDSU’s associate vice president for campus community affairs and a professor in the Department of Counseling and School Psychology.
“This [gift] is bigger than what we imagined, this helps us think bigger, impact more lives, and witness dreams come true right before our eyes. The Dong Family will change lives with this gift,” says Green. “It’s a gift that never stops giving.”
The BRC offers educational, scholarship, and research initiatives; professional and career development strategies; and leadership and service opportunities. An estimated 95% of SDSU students who go through BRC’s academic programs graduate, according to Green. BRC administrators hope the Dong’s donation can help them boost that graduate rate even closer to 100%, which can impact students and their families for generations, Green says.
Giving back
The Thompsons were among the earliest residents in Coronado. Gus Thompson was born into slavery in 1859, shortly before the Civil War. He and his wife Emma were among several hundred Black people to arrive in Coronado in the 1880s, and they were one of the few Black families to remain in the area when racially restrictive covenants emerged in the early 20th century that prohibited homes from being sold or rented to nonwhite residents. In 1939, the Thompsons were the only family willing to rent to Lloyd Dong Sr., a second-generation Chinese American farmer and gardener, during his search for a home. After Gus died, Emma sold the house to Dong. The family’s donation recognizes the Thompsons’ act of solidarity.
“When you look at all the things that Gus Thompson did, he did a lot of things for a lot of other people, things that they might otherwise could never have done themselves,” Ron Dong told SDSU. “We wanted to do something to repay him, to give back.”