2021-01-13 00:24:47
MacKenzie Scott, an author and philanthropist formerly married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced that she would donate about $4.2 billion to 384 organizations, including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The world’s 18th richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index, she committed to the Giving Pledge Initiative by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates, encouraging the world’s wealthiest people to donate significant chunks of their fortunes. “I asked a team of advisors to help me accelerate my 2020 giving through immediate support to people suffering the economic effects of the crisis,” Scott wrote in a Medium post. “ ey took a data-driven approach to identifying organizations with strong leadership teams and results, with special attention to those operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital.” This follows a $1.7 billion donation she made to 116 organizations in July, including four HBCUs.
Dominion Energy is committing $25 million in grants to support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Power Engineering reported. Using a $6 million Dominion grant, Virginia Union University will endow a STEM studies program. The school will establish a Dominion Energy Scholars scholarship program, finish its Huntley Hall renovations, help workforce development and underwrite technology upgrades to 40 classrooms. VUU is one of 11 HBCUs assisted by Dominion’s six-year, multi-state “HBCU Promise” program.
Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) has received $5 million from philanthropist Stephen Feinberg’s charitable foundation to fund a scholarship program for students at historically Black colleges and universities and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs). The Stephen Feinberg Scholarship Program will give need-based scholarships to students at these institutions who are facing financial hardships. Feinberg is the co-founder and co-CEO of global private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. “At a time when so many students are struggling to attend and graduate from college, we are thrilled that the foundation has invested in HBCUs by creating the Stephen Feinberg Scholarship Program,” said Dr. N. Joyce Payne, Founder of TMCF. “This scholarship is historic and will greatly enable TMCF to continue the important work of recruiting, retaining and graduating scholars.”
Tuskegee University has received $5 million from the charity established by philanthropist Stephen Feinberg, co-founder and co-chief executive offcer of global private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. The gift – one of the largest single gifts from one person in the school’s history – will fund the creation of the Stephen Feinberg Scholarship Program, which will award need-based student scholarships. “African American families have been hit inordinately hard by the pandemic and by the recession,” said Dr. Charlotte P. Morris, Tuskegee’s interim president. “The Stephen Feinberg Scholarships will provide vital need-based assistance that will allow students to continue their studies in earnest.”
Winston-Salem State University has raised nearly $3.4 million for student scholarships, surpassing the $2 million goal of its Million Dollar Match funding campaign, according to university officials. Winston-Salem couple Anna Reilly and Matt Cullinan agreed to match donations for need-based student scholarships between February 2019 and April 2020. They ultimately matched $1.7 million. “We were introduced to Winston Salem State about three years ago and our interest grew as we learned more about this incredible university,” Reilly said. “When we understood that more than 40% of WSSU students are first generation, and many more of modest means, we felt like we had to invest. It became clear that Winston Salem State University truly sits at the nexus of opportunity and resources coming together to change a person’s life. It may present the greatest point of leverage in higher education today
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