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Jose Feliciano, the co-founder of Clearlake Capital Group, and his wife Kwanza Jones are using a $20 million gift to help Princeton University expand its student body by 10%, broadening educational opportunities for minority and low-income students.
Courtesy of Clearlake Capital
Prestigious Ivy League institution Princeton University is set to expand its student body by 500 students, or 10%, in the 2022/2o23 academic year after a historic $20 million gift by alumni Kwanza Jones and her husband billionaire José Feliciano, the co-founder of private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group.
The gift is the largest from Black and Latino alumni donors in Princeton’s history and will be used in part to construct two new dormitories, one named for Jones and the other for Feliciano, as the university expands. With a larger student body, Princeton is broadening access to the elite institution, hoping to create new opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds to use the university as a springboard.
In symbolism and scope the gift is a watershed.
At the urging of some alumni, including Jones during a national conversation on race this year, Princeton recently removed President Woodrow Wilson’s name from its international affairs school. Now, as America’s fourth oldest university expands, two new dormitories will be bear the names of alumni from minority backgrounds.
“This expansion will give access to more people and more deserving students, some who are first generation college students or those who are coming from backgrounds that perhaps you wouldn’t associate with Princeton,” Feliciano tells Forbes. “It’s helping to make Princeton available to a broader group of deserving students and for that group of students to be even more representative of our society.”
“These will be the first two buildings named after Black and Latina benefactors,” he adds, “We think that makes a difference. My hope is that some young Black, or Latino and Latina student comes to campus and seeing those names will make them feel more welcome and that Princeton is part of them and that they’re part of Princeton.”
Adds Jones in an interview, “Sometimes you need to physically see it. In this instance, the buildings are a way to have a physical representation and understanding that you belong.” In a university announcement, she added, “It demonstrates that people of color belong in the room and sit at the table as patrons… Most importantly, during this time of national reckoning on race and racial injustice, it highlights the benefits that diversity, inclusion and belonging can bring.”
Both Jones and Feliciano made their way to Princeton from modest upbringings and matriculated at a time when the school was far less diverse than it is today. Jones was raised in the Washington D.C.-area and chose Princeton over historically black colleges where her mother and other family members graduated. She studied international affairs and was a letter-winner in track. After graduating in 1993, Jones pursued an eclectic mix of careers in law, music and philanthropy. She worked in courts, taught at schools like New York University and even topped Billboard charts with her music.
Feliciano left Puerto Rico at the age of seventeen to study at Princeton, graduating in 1994 with high honors and a degree in mechanical & aerospace engineering. Afterwards, he cut his teeth on Wall Street as a banker at Goldman Sachs, where he was mentored by fellow billionaire Robert F. Smith, who would later found Vista Equity Partners. After getting an MBA at Stanford and doing a stint at Tennenbaum Capital, Feliciano co-founded Clearlake Capital with partner Behdad Eghbali in 2006. On the back of stellar investment results, Clearlake has become one of the fastest growing and most valuable private equity firms in the country, with over $24 billion in assets under management. A 2018 sale of a stake in Clearlake to outside investors made both Feliciano and Eghbali billionaires, according to Forbes’s estimates.
Jones and Feliciano were close friends during their time at Princeton. As Jones recalls: After a serious track injury in her senior year, it was Feliciano who would carry her to class. After graduation that they formed a relationship, got married, and eventually moved to Southern California, where Clearlake is headquartered.
In recent years, Jones and Feliciano have turned their wealth and attention to philanthropy, working to open new doors to educational and entrepreneurial opportunities. In 2018, their $1 million gift to Bennett College, one of the nation’s oldest Historically black colleges, was a crucial part of a funding drive that helped keep the school open. Bennett was where Jones’ mother and a number of other family members earned college degrees, and propelling them into careers in industries such as law. Jones has also translated her energy and personality into a growing initiative called SUPERCHARGED, a media company and community focused on empowerment.
Feliciano, the recipient of a number of grants and fellowships while studying at Princeton, credits philanthropies like the Robert Toigo Foundation in his rise on Wall Street. Now, behind the scenes, he’s become one of the most active backers of a new generation of up and coming minority-run investment firms, having committed about $50 million to a handful of promising investors.
“Princeton was a catalyst and a validation for me,” reflects Feliciano. “Talent and investment judgment tends to be equally distributed across many different types of people. So if you give them an equal playing field, you will see excellence in many groups of people, who perhaps look a little bit different than they did before.”