How Three HBCUs Are Using MacKenzie Scott’s Gifts

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT) graduates at commencementOn December 15, 2020, a fleet of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) announced they had each received a multi-million dollar gift with no strings attached. For many schools, that was the largest one-time gift that they had ever received.

“We were certainly astounded when we got word,” said Kenneth Sigmon, Jr., vice chancellor for university advancement at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT), which received $45 million in September 2020 before the news went public in December that year. “And we didn’t know at first who the gift was coming from.”

The donor was billionaire philanthropist and novelist MacKenzie Scott. That day in December, she announced 384 organizations had received more than $4.158 billion in total donations from her. Several HBCUs were included. A year later, three of those HBCUs that received some of the largest of Scott’s 2020 gifts share how they have used the funds so far—and what they hope to do next.

MacKenzie Scott“It couldn’t have come at a better time for us,” said Sigmon of Scott’s gift to NCAT. “This was a tremendous icing on the cake.”

NCAT was just finishing a multi-year campaign and had already exceeded its goal of $85 million when Scott’s gift came through. 

“We ended up closing our campaign at $180 million because of her gift,” said Sigmon. “For us as a public institution, that allows us to do things we couldn’t otherwise do because of restrictions on the state dollars we get.”

The university, which enrolls more than 13,000 students, aimed to grow its endowment. When NCAT launched the quiet phase of its campaign during fiscal year 2012, its endowment totaled $28 million. That number is much lower than many “household names” of universities that teach a similar number of students, Sigmon said.