MacKenzie Scott (Formerly Bezos) Just Donated $160 Million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott (formerly Bezos) has donated a total of $160 million to Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Tuskegee University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
In 2019, she pledged $586.7 million to racial equality causes.
The institutions she is contributing to have focuses ranging from racial, sexual, and gender equality to climate change, public health, and a functional democracy.
What has MacKenzie Scott been up to since her divorce with Jeff Bezos? Making the world a better place, that's what. In 2019, Scott pledged to give a portion of her wealth “back to the society the helped generate it,” and she's making good on that promise.
This week, it was announced that she's giving $160 million to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and HBCU advocacy organizations. HBCUs were the institutions created immediately after the abolishment of slavery. Until other schools amended rules to admit Black students, HBCUs were the only schools in the United States to welcome them, and today HBCUs are striving to secure funding for their academic futures, especially amid COVID-19.
Thank you Mackenzie Scott🔥 #HBCUPride!
A post shared by HBCU PRIDE NATION #HBCUPride! (@hbcupridenation) on Jul 29, 2020 at 2:36pm PDT
Scott’s gift to Tuskegee University, founded by Booker T. Washington, was the largest single donation in the school’s existence. Thurgood Marshall College Fund president and CEO, Harry L. Williams, said her donation to them will help "ensure the long-term vitality of TMCF and enable us to continue our work to help identify and nurture HBCU and PBI students to become the next generation of global leaders."
Scott says she wants to give back until “the safe is empty.” So that being said...where can I send her my Venmo?
Want to learn more about HBCUs? Check out Watch the Yard, HBCU Pride Nation, HBCUbuzz, or stream Tell Them We are Rising, a PBS film about the importance of HBCUs. You can also check out HBCUs by state here.
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