MacKenzie Scott just shook the room. The philanthropic billionaire spent a whopping $70 million on the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) as part of one of her biggest donations yet. The funds aren’t a flex, but rather a boost for the 37 historically Black college and universities (HBCUs) under the umbrella of the UNCF as they strive to raise a billion dollars for their future.
For generations, HBCUs have been carrying Black excellence on their backs, producing doctors, engineers, artists, and leaders with half the resources of their peers. This donation is recognition that their impact is unmatched and their value is undeniable.
HBCUs Have a Stacked Deck, but This Money Helps Cut the Endowment Gap
That’s the reality: HBCUs fight against the odds. Their endowments trail non-HBCU institutions by as much as 70 percent. In the year 2019 alone, Ivy League schools collected $5.5 billion of foundation support. All 99 HBCUs had to split a staggering $45 million. That’s not a gap, it’s a void.
UNCF President and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax described Scott’s contribution as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.” The funds will go into the pooled endowment of the UNCF, which aims to raise $370 million, one-tenth of which—$10 million—will go toward each of the HBCUs. The payout will give steady financial support to campuses which all too frequently had been forced into a shoestring existence.
That’s not charity, that’s stability. That’s power.
Gifts without Strings Demonstrate Genuine Confidence in Black Institutions
What makes Scott unique is the way she donates. There are no strings. There are no seemingly endless prohibitions. She believes the institutions understand what they require and how to get the job done. And such confidence is a revolution.
Phil Buchanan, who researches Scott’s philanthropy as part of The Center for Effective Philanthropy, says the verdict is the outcome: nonprofits are investing her gifts well, becoming better-run organisations without inefficiencies. The upshot? When you invest in the people who’ve been doing the work for years, they thrive.
Scott Has a History of Supporting Black Colleges and Communities
Not new to this. She donated $10 million to the UNCF back in the year 2020, and since she signed the Giving Pledge back in the year 2019, she has donated over $19 billion. HBCUs have been one of her regular causes. Her thinking is straightforward but compelling: diversity of thinking and experience matters when solving big problems.
And who better knows big problems than HBCUs? They’ve been managing them for centuries with less resources and more barriers.
She Donated $70 Million, And All other Billionaires Ought To Follow Suit As Well
It’s not merely a time for feting Scott. It’s a time for calling on other donors and institutions to do what she did. The template for the UNCF’s billion-dollar campaign. As Lomax noted, her contribution demonstrates HBCUs are an investment worthwhile making “at this scale.”
For long enough, the narrative has been HBCUs do more with less. This gift says: what if we gave them what they are owed? What if we invested in them the way America’s investing every other great institution?
Why America Needs the Enhancement of HBCUs
HBCUs represent only a 3 percent share of all the colleges in this country but graduate nearly 20 percent of all the graduates who are Black. That’s power. That’s legacy. That’s the culture.
Scott’s $70 million donation isn’t just money, it’s validation. It’s a reminder that these schools are not relics, they’re the heartbeat of Black higher education. They don’t just need support. They need investment, respect, and recognition on the level of the Ivy Leagues. This contribution takes the needle one step further. And when others rise up, HBCUs won’t merely survive, they will prosper.
