Philanthropist and novelist MacKenzie Scott’s gifts to historically Black colleges and universities surpass $400 million this year alone. Image created in ChaptGPT for BlackPressUSA / NNPA.
By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
There are moments in American life when truth steps forward and refuses to be convenient. MacKenzie Scott has chosen such a moment. As political forces move to strip diversity from classrooms, silence Black scholarship and erase equity from public life, she has gone in the opposite direction. She has invested her wealth in the communities this country has spent centuries trying to marginalize.
Her most recent gifts to historically Black colleges and universities surpass $400 million this year alone. These are not gestures. They are declarations. They say that the education of Black students is not optional, not expendable and not dependent on the approval of those who fear what an educated Black citizenry represents.
And she is not the only woman doing what America’s institutions have refused to do. Melinda French Gates has poured billions into women and girls across the globe, ensuring that the people whose rights are most fragile receive the most support. At a time when this nation tries to erase Black history and restrict the rights of women, two white women once married to two of the richest white men in the world have made clear where they stand. They have said, through their giving, that marginalized people deserve not just acknowledgment but investment.
At Prairie View A and M University, Scott’s $63 million gift became the largest in the institution’s 149-year history. “This gift is more than generous. It is defining and affirming,” President Tomikia P. LeGrande said. “MacKenzie Scott’s investment amplifies the power and promise of Prairie View A and M University.” The university said it plans to strengthen scholarships, expand faculty research and support critical programs in artificial intelligence, public health, agricultural sustainability and cybersecurity.
Howard University received an $80 million donation that leaders described as transformative. “On behalf of the entire Howard University community, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Ms. MacKenzie Scott for her extraordinary generosity and steadfast belief in Howard University’s mission,” Wayne A. I. Frederick said. The gift will support student aid, infrastructure and key expansions in academic and medical research.
Elsewhere, the impact ripples outward. Voorhees University received the largest gift in its 128-year history. Norfolk State, Morgan State, Spelman, Winston-Salem State, Virginia State, Alcorn State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore all confirmed contributions that will reshape their futures. Bowie State University received $50 million, also a historic mark. “We are profoundly grateful to MacKenzie Scott for her visionary commitment to education and equity,” President Aminta Breaux said. “The gift empowers us to expand access and uplift generations of students who will lead, serve and innovate.”
These gifts arrive at a moment when America attempts to revise its own memory. Curriculum bans seek to remove Black history from classrooms. Political movements claim that diversity is dangerous. Women’s contributions are minimized. And institutions that have served Black communities for more than a century must withstand both political hostility and financial neglect.
Scott’s philanthropy does not simply counter these forces. It exposes them. It announces that Black students, Black institutions and Black futures deserve resources worthy of their brilliance. It declares that women’s leadership is not marginal but central to the fight for justice.
This is where the mission of the Black Press becomes intertwined with the story unfolding. For nearly two centuries, the Black Press of America has chronicled the truth of Black life. It has told the stories others refused to tell, preserved the history others attempted to bury and spoken truths others feared. The National Newspaper Publishers Association, representing more than 200 Black and women-owned newspapers and media companies, continues that mission today despite financial threats that jeopardize independent Black journalism.
Like the HBCUs Scott uplifts, the Black Press has always been more than a collection of institutions. It is a safeguard. It is a mirror. It is the memory of a people whose presence in this nation has been met with both hostility and unimaginable strength. It survives not because it is funded but because it is essential.
Scott’s giving suggests an understanding of this. She has aligned herself with institutions that protect truth, expand opportunity and preserve the stories this country tries to erase. She has chosen the side of history that refuses silence.
“When Bowie State thrives,” declared Brent Swinton, the university’s vice president of Philanthropic Engagement, “our tight knit community of alumni, families and partners across the region and beyond thrives with us.”