A $200,000 check shows Dr. Pamela V. Hammond is keeping her promise to rev up fundraising at Virginia State University.

The university’s interim president received the contribution from the foundation of Thompson Hospitality Inc., which offers food service and catering at VSU’s Gateway Center.

“The foundation (of Thompson Hospitality) started at VSU,” said Warren Thompson in presenting the check to Dr. Hammond Feb. 5.

“We wanted to make a statement of support for education in Virginia. What better place than VSU?” said Mr. Thompson, chairman and president of the Northern Virginia-based company that bills itself as the largest African- American-owned food services company in the nation.

According to the university, Dr. Hammond has raised $350,000 since taking office Jan. 1, including the donation from Thompson Hospitality and gifts from such companies as Altria, Microsoft and GCA Services. The total is expected to grow next month when alumni present a donation on VSU’s Founders Day.

Much of the new money apparently has gone to beef up the university’s tuition assistance programs, helping to boost spring enrollment.

In the latest report, VSU stated that 4,557 undergraduate

and graduate students are enrolled, pushing up the numbers on campus near the projected level of 4,626 students.

While still below the spring 2014 enrollment, the new figure is well above the 4,000 students that once had been projected. This level of enrollment, Dr. Hammond previously has said, means the university will not have to consider layoffs or furloughs in order to maintain a balanced budget.

The school still has not released figures on the number of students living on campus or in apartments built by the university’s real estate foundation.