As millions of U.S. citizens began to shelter in their homes due to the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020, another phenomenon began to take shape in the late spring. The murder of George Floyd had been committed and shared widely on the news and social media. As it did, a groundswell of discussions and social activism through a revitalized Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement further shifted the narrative of racial equity and justice in the United States. The impact of this narrative was broad, and corporations began to change their public statements, branding, products, services, workforce, and management structures. This qualitative descriptive phenomenology study aimed to investigate and describe the shifts in corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors as observed through corporate engagements at Association of Independent Technological Universities (AITU) schools. Using the framework of stewardship theory as presented by Davis et al. (1997), research was conducted through semistructured interviews with corporate relations officers and gift recipients at AITU schools to understand the shifts in corporate behaviors and the philanthropic impact on universities and their underrepresented student populations. As a result of the literature review and the analysis of the data collection, the research uncovered three conclusions: (a) Corporate philanthropy maintained its status as a partnership tool through the phenomena; (b) the social context in which corporate entities were operating had shifted as a result of the murder of George Floyd and, therefore, the direction of corporate funding changed; and (c) corporate philanthropy became more focused at AITU schools with more targeted support for DEI-related programs and initiatives as well as workforce development efforts. Academics and corporate leaders who are evaluating corporate philanthropy priorities may find this study helpful as it explores both perspectives of the partnership. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]