MacKenzie Scott is trying to close the DEI gap in higher ed, with $155 million in donations this week alone | Fortune

"The donations announced this week include: $50 million to California State University-East Bay $50 million to Lehman College (part of the City University of New York system) $38 million to Texas A&M University-Kingsville $17 million to Seminole State College All four institutions are public, access-oriented colleges that enroll large shares of low‑income, first‑generation, and racially diverse students and function as minority‑serving institutions or similar engines of social mobility."

"They fit MacKenzie Scott's broader pattern of directing large, unrestricted gifts to colleges that serve "chronically underserved" communities rather than already wealthy, highly selective universities. Scott, who is worth about $40 billion and has donated over $20 billion in the past five years, has doubled down this year on causes that the Trump administration has cut deeply, such as education, DEI, and disaster recovery."

""As higher education, in general, works to find its way in an uncertain environment, this gift is a major source of encouragement that we are on the right path," Lehman College President Fernando Delgado said in a statement. Scott also made one of the largest donations in HBCU Howard University's 158-year history with an $80 million gift earlier this fall, and a $60 million donation to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy after Trump administration's cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-an organization American"

MacKenzie Scott made major unrestricted donations exceeding $100 million to multiple public, access-oriented colleges: $50 million to California State University-East Bay; $50 million to Lehman College; $38 million to Texas A&M University-Kingsville; and $17 million to Seminole State College. The recipient institutions enroll large shares of low‑income, first‑generation, and racially diverse students and operate as minority-serving institutions or engines of social mobility. Scott has donated over $20 billion in the past five years and is worth about $40 billion. She targets causes cut by the Trump administration, including education, DEI, and disaster recovery, and previously gave $80 million to Howard University and $60 million to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

Read at Fortune