Howard University in Washington, D.C., says that Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $80 million to the school, making one of the largest single contributions in the university's history.
WUSA-TV reports that $63 million of the gift will go to Howard University and $17 million to the Howard University College of Medicine.
The gift is one of several multimillion dollar donations from Scott to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBUs) announced in recent days.
Scott donated $63 million last month to Morgan State University in Baltimore, CBS Baltimore reports.
Virginia State University in Petersburg has received the largest donation in its 143-year history with a $50 million gift from Scott, WTVR-TV reports.
Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi, has received a $42 million unrestricted donation from Scott, The Vicksburg Post reports. The donation is the largest single gift in the 154-year history of the school, which is the nation’s oldest public historically Black land-grant university.
“This gift opens a new chapter for Alcorn State,” Alcorn State president Tracy M. Cook. said. “We will use every dollar to support students, strengthen the university, and serve Mississippi and the nation for generations to come.”
Spelman College in Atlanta announced Monday that it received a $38 million gift from Scott, Atlanta News First reports.
Scott is a novelist, philanthropist and early contributor to Amazon. She was previously married to Jeff Bezos, the co-founder of Amazon. Since their divorce in 2019 she has given more than $19 billion to more than 2,000 organizations — including more than $500 million to nearly two dozen HBCUs.
