ATLANTA & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2007--The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) and Morehouse College today announced that Goldman Sachs has donated $2 million to endow The Goldman Sachs Leadership Chair in Civil and Human Rights at the College. The first academic to hold the Chair will be the new director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, consisting of 10,000 pieces of the late Dr. King's writings and memorabilia. King is a 1948 alumnus of Morehouse College.

"This generous donation represents yet another significant milestone in our ongoing partnership with Goldman Sachs," said Dr. Walter E. Massey, President of Morehouse College. "Thanks to this gift, we will be able to fulfill one of the most important aspects of our stewardship of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection - making the papers available to scholars and others interested in studying the works of our most prominent alumnus."

"An important element of Dr. King's teachings is a call for each individual to feel a sense of responsibility for the community as a whole," said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. "We try to apply this lesson of leadership and accountability not only at our firm, but in the communities in which we live and work. We have enjoyed a long association with Morehouse College and appreciate the opportunity to deepen our relationship with this important institution in such a meaningful way."

Goldman Sachs will work closely with the holder of this new Chair, as well as with the faculty and administration of Morehouse, to develop programs both on campus and at the Firm around the theme of leadership as exemplified by the life of Dr. King.

There is a connection between Goldman Sachs and Morehouse dating back nearly 100 years. John Hope, the first black president of Morehouse and Walter Sachs, the son of one of the founders of Goldman Sachs, played significant leadership roles in founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1906, Hope joined W. E. B. Du Bois and others in the Niagara movement. He was the only college president to participate in the protest meeting, which culminated with the founding of the NAACP. He later served on the advisory board for the group. In 1909, Walter Sachs served as the first treasurer and chairman of the finance committee for the NAACP.
He was an early figure in the civil rights movement and helped the organization establish special funds to promote an anti-lynching crusade and take legal action against discrimination.

Goldman Sachs has actively recruited at Morehouse for a number of years and today there are 39 Morehouse alumni on its professional staff.

About Morehouse College

Ranked three times as the number one college in the nation for educating African American students by Black Enterprise magazine, and recognized by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top feeder schools for the 15 most prominent graduate and professional schools in the country, Morehouse College is the nation's largest, private liberal arts college for men. Founded in 1867, the College enrolls approximately 3,000 students. The College offers 26 majors in three academic divisions: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Mathematics, and Business and Economics. Morehouse offers a number of programs and activities to enhance its challenging liberal arts curriculum through the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, Morehouse Research Institute, and Andrew Young Center for International Affairs. Morehouse is one of only two Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU) to produce three Rhodes Scholars.

Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader; Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General and director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine; Shelton "Spike" Lee, filmmaker and president of 40 Acres & A Mule Productions; Samuel L. Jackson, Academy Award nominated actor; Maynard H. Jackson, founder of Jackson Securities and the first African-American mayor of Atlanta; and Nima A. Warfield, the first African American Rhodes Scholar from a HBCU.

About Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.

Copyright Business Wire 2007

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm, which provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.

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