5 years later, what’s become of MacKenzie Scott’s $55M gifts to Atlanta HBCUs?
Five years ago, the fortunes and futures of three of Atlanta’s historically Black colleges and universities changed unexpectedly.
In the years since, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse and Spelman colleges have funded changes to their schools that will ripple for generations to come.
Before the summer of 2020, MacKenzie Scott was largely unknown. If people had heard of her, it was likely as an author or the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
She had briefly been in the tabloids when she and Bezos announced in 2019 they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. In the split, Scott received a portion of their Amazon stock worth more than $38 billion at the time.
That same year, Scott promised to give away the majority of her wealth either during her lifetime or in her will, writing at the time she would “keep at it until the safe is empty.”
But after July 2020, Scott’s profile skyrocketed. She began following through on her pledge, donating billions to institutions amid the summer of racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd, with all her gifts being unrestricted and often unsolicited.
Morehouse, Spelman and CAU have been three of the beneficiaries of her largess, which up until that point hadn’t previously received such major donations from businesses and philanthropists. In July 2020, she gave Morehouse and Spelman $20 million each, and then in December 2020, she gave CAU $15 million.
The money had no strings attached, meaning over the past five years, the schools have been able to do a variety of things, such as fund scholarships, boost their endowments and seed the construction of new buildings.
“It was refreshing to see a donor who really genuinely wants to help organizations without having any restrictions,” said Hodan Hassan, Morehouse’s vice president of the Office of Institutional Advancement and chief advancement officer. “What that really conveys is trusting those organizations to utilize the resources as they need and as they see fit.”
Morehouse allocated the $20 million it received to a new three-story, 58,000-square-foot campus center it will soon build for students. The school’s vision is for the center to be a hub for innovation, collaboration and community among students, faculty, alumni and business leaders.
Morehouse estimates it will cost $80 million to build. Including Scott’s gift, the school has raised $45 million so far, according to Hassan.
For CAU, Scott’s $15 million donation is still the single largest private, individual gift in the university’s history.
“Ms. Scott’s generous gift has been a true turning point for Clark Atlanta University. It has helped us fortify our financial base, enrich our academic offerings, expand opportunities for our scholars, and significantly enhance our visibility and reputation,” George T. French Jr., the school’s president, said in an email.
CAU allocated the majority of the funding — $10 million — to its endowment, French said. Endowments are pivotal in an institution’s long-term future and can be turned to in economic downturns.
CAU allocated $3 million of her gift to revitalize its W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy, which does research on environmental justice, social justice, race and civil rights issues. It also houses the school’s new labor institute.
Lastly, the university put $1.5 million into its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development and $500,000 toward full-tuition scholarships for Atlanta Public Schools students.
Spelman put $11 million of Scott’s $20 million gift into its endowment, the school said in a statement.
The college also allocated some funding to scholarships. In 2020, every student received a $3,5000 award, and another $1.1 million was used as a match to Spelman’s Social Justice Scholars program. The rest of the money went toward enhancing the student experience and institutional priorities, like technology upgrades and academic programming, Spelman said.
All three schools said that Scott has never given them direct feedback about how her gifts were used but said her gifts have had impacts beyond just the money.
“One of the most significant indirect effects of Ms. Scott’s gift has been its catalytic impact on our fundraising efforts,” French said. Her donation helped launch the school’s $250 million capital campaign, and after she donated to the school, CAU received $5.5 million in gifts from other philanthropists and a $10 million award from the National Science Foundation, according to French.
For Morehouse, Scott’s donation, coupled with other gifts the school received around the same time, “really built the confidence for other philanthropists that Morehouse is worth the investment,” Hassan said.
In five years, Scott has given away more than $19.2 billion to more than 2,450 nonprofits, with at least $256 million donated to Georgia-based organizations, according to Yield Giving, a database of her donations.
But that’s still a fraction of Scott’s wealth. As of Wednesday, her net worth is still more than $34 billion, according to Forbes.
Yield, Scott’s group, does not have contact information for Scott, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was unable to reach her for this story.
About the Author
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
