Three private, historically Black colleges and universities in Tennessee will benefit from a $70 million donation from philanthropist billionaire MacKenzie Scott.
Scott, who was previously married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, donated the money to the United Negro College Fund. The national nonprofit helps private, historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, bolster their academics and keep their tuitions affordable. Scott’s donation will go into a pooled endowment fund for 37 private HBCUs nationwide, including Fisk University in Nashville, Lane College in Jackson and LeMonyne-Owen College in Memphis.
Endowments at HBCUs trail those at non-HBCUs by at least 70%, according to a Sept. 22 release from the organization. The pooled endowment is designed to support the long-term financial health of the schools.
“This extraordinary gift is a powerful vote of confidence in HBCUs and in the work of UNCF,” the organization’s CEO and founder Michael L. Lomax said in the release. “It provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our member institutions to build permanent assets that will support students and campuses for decades to come.”
Scott’s gift puts the organization a step closer to its goal of raising $370 million for its pooled endowment, which is part of its larger $1 billion capital campaign. Each of the 37 schools will receive a $5 million stake from the money raised. The organization will then work with them to raise another $5 million in matching funds to create a $10 million stake per school.
The organization still has $280 million to raise in its capital campaign.
“This gift allows us to demonstrate the power of collective investment in our institutions,” the organization’s board chair Milton H. Jones Jr. said in the release. “At the same time, we must finish the work of this campaign. … Together, these efforts will build the permanent capacity our institutions need to thrive.”
More information on the United Negro College Fund and a full list of its members can be found at UNCF.org/member-colleges.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: $70M MacKenzie Scott donation to benefit three Tennessee HBCUs