The word “transformational” was used frequently by leaders of historically Black colleges and universities to describe multimillion-dollar grants they received from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. In most cases, Scott’s gifts to 22 HBCUs, ranging from $4 million for Voorhees College in South Carolina to $50 million for Prairie View A&M University in Texas, were the largest individual gifts those institutions had ever received.
Higher education leaders say the impact of these unrestricted gifts will be felt for generations and change the lives of students, faculty, staff and communities.
“One of the issues our HBCUs have is that they often don’t have the endowments that some of the other institutions have, so that when they get into financial trouble they don’t have something on which to fall back,” says Dr. Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. SACSOC is the regional accrediting organization serving many of the HBCU recipients of Scott’s gifts.
“Many of the HBCUs are also enrollment-driven so when enrollment decreases it puts them in a financial bind,” Wheelan adds. She explains that for accreditation purposes, “this is one of the challenges they have in meeting our financial stability standards, so [these gifts] should help keep them out of trouble.”
Dr. Aminta Breaux, president of Bowie State University (BSU) in Maryland, which received $25 million, says the funds will have “a huge impact” on all the institutions involved.
“This gift underscores the urgent need for support of higher education for marginalized communities, as well as BSU’s strong and distinctive position to make a dramatic difference.”
Breaux says the contribution will ensure the public institution’s long-term viability by “enabling investment in student financial support, advances in academic excellence and innovation, and substantial increases in the university endowment.”
