Dillard University Receives Historic $19M Gift From MacKenzie Scott As She Continues Commitment To HBCUs – AfroTech
Dillard University has joined the growing list of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to earn philanthropic donations from MacKenzie Scott. The New Orleans, LA-based HBCU has received a historic $19 million contribution — the largest single gift in the university’s history, according to a news release.
The contribution follows a $5 million donation in 2020 from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation and underscores Scott’s continued investment in HBCUs nationwide.
“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 Dr. Monique Guillory said in the news release. “This gift will strengthen the university at a moment when our mission has never been more urgent.”
The unrestricted gift will enable Dillard to accelerate key strategic priorities, including enhancing student success, expanding scholarship opportunities, and strengthening institutional advancement, the news release states.
How Toni Morrison Inspired MacKenzie Scott To Give Back
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Scott’s connection to the Black community dates back to her time studying creative writing under the late Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison at Princeton University.
While helping shape Scott’s voice as a writer, Morrison’s mentorship went further, instilling a lasting empathy for people’s struggles and aspirations that continues to guide Scott’s philanthropy today.
On May 25, 2019, following her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott signed the Giving Pledge, committing the majority of her fortune to charitable causes.
Scott’s Billion-Dollar Commitment To HBCUs
As of November 2025, Scott has donated more than $19.25 billion, including over $1.07 billion to support HBCUs, as AFROTECH™ previously reported.
“I have no doubt that tremendous value comes when people act quickly on the impulse to give,” Scott wrote in her Giving Pledge letter. “No drive has more positive ripple effects than the desire to be of service. There are lots of resources each of us can pull from our safes to share with others — time, attention, knowledge, patience, creativity, talent, effort, humor, compassion.”
Scott’s recent donations to HBCUs include a record-breaking $63 million to Morgan State University, supporting expanded student assistance programs, endowment growth, and initiatives that strengthen its position as a “Public Impact Very High Research University,” AFROTECH™ reported.
Her foundation also donated $80 million to Howard University — one of four HBCUs with a medical school — to help train future medical professionals; $38 million to Spelman College to bolster financial aid and enhance the school’s technology infrastructure; and $19 million to Voorhees University — the largest in its 128-year history — to fund endowment growth, student recruitment and retention, scholarships, and campus maintenance.
“Something greater rises up every time we give: the easy breathing of a friend we sit with when we had other plans, the relief on our child’s face when we share the story of our own mistake, laughter at the well-timed joke we tell to someone who is crying, the excitement of the kids in the school we send books to, the safety of the families who sleep in the shelters we fund,” Scott added in her 2019 Giving Pledge letter.
“These immediate results are only the beginning. Their value keeps multiplying and spreading in ways we may never know,” she continued.
