Philanthropist and billionaire MacKenzie Scott has donated $19 million to Dillard University, the largest private gift in the 156-year-old private historically Black institution’s history.
The unrestricted gift, announced on Wednesday, is the second major donation Scott has given Dillard, a four-year liberal arts college. In 2020, she gifted the school $5 million, which officials at the time said would be put toward strategic initiatives.
Scott, a writer who was formerly married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, pledged in 2019 to give away half of her wealth in her lifetime. Since then she has donated more than $19 billion to various nonprofits, universities and other organizations, including about $220 million to organizations in Louisiana. This year she has reportedly given more than $740 million to historically Black colleges and universities, including $38million to Xavier University, a Catholic HBCU in New Orleans.
Dillard officials said the donation would be used to enhance student success, student scholarships and institutional advancement.
“If anyone ever doubts the difference one person can make, look no further than MacKenzie Scott and how her generosity will resonate across generations,” Dillard president Monique Guillory said in statement. “This gift will strengthen the university at a moment when our mission has never been more urgent.”
Like many other higher education institutions Dillard faces headwinds, including rising operational expenses, low enrollment and the shifting landscape of federal funding. Earlier this year, a nearly $20 million Environmental Protection Agency grant that would have funded much-needed updates to campus infrastructure was cancelled.
Thanking Scott for her gift, Dillard’s board chair Michael D. Jones cited the success of Dillard alumna Ruth Simmons, daughter of a sharecropper who became the first Black president of an Ivy League institution as president of Brown University.
“This incredible gift will allow Dillard University to continue doing what we have done for more than 150 years,” Jones said, “Take students, many from Pell-eligible families, and provide them with the foundation and inspiration to become history makers.”
Scott has also given to Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, which received $25 million in 2020; Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, which received $17 million in 2022; and the United Way of Southeast Louisiana, which received $10 million in 2020.
Scott is a signatory to The Giving Pledge, a commitment by billionaires to give away the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. In 2022, she founded her own philanthropic organization, Yield Giving, to support initiatives related to diversity, disaster recovery and education.