The results of philanthropy are beyond calculation, but they are calculated. – William A. Foster, IV
After 2020 gave us unprecedented major giving to HBCUs, the fairy dust wore off just as quickly come 2021. Had this year been not followed by 2020, then arguably it would be a good year by normal standards. Instead, it is a harsh reminder that HBCUs rarely on any level receive an equitable share of funding both by state and federal governments and private giving to colleges and universities. 2020’s giving it could be argued was a response to the protests and social unrest that spilled over from the death of George Floyd. However, as we stated previously that is neither sustainable and questionably moral. This year’s list while significantly smaller looks much the same as last year in that it is buoyance is upheld by donors outside of the African American community.
HBCUs were able to pull in three percent of the million plus donations to all colleges and universities, which constitutes their makeup in the overall landscape of the higher education system. However, the value of those donations amounted to less than one percent of the overall donation value to colleges and universities. A significant drop off from 2020’s astounding 15 percent of donation value. Very interested to note that PWIs saw donations of $100 million plus double from 2020 to 2021 going from seven to fourteen. No HBCU has ever seen a nine-figure donation and there are only a handful of African Americans capable of doing so. This once again leaves the fate of African American NPOs in the hands of other community’s wealth and generosity. It also begs the question for the survival of HBCUs in particular long-term. Despite 2020’s gifts, we would be remiss to act as if one year of donations can rectify over one hundred plus years of negligence and fiscal hostility.
MacKenzie Scott continued to be HBCUs’ best friend with two of the ten donations on the list coming from her philanthropy. Mr. and Mrs. Tyler’s donation is one of the largest alumni gifts (if not the largest) ever to an HBCU. Worthy of a conversation itself is that HBCUs are still not producing a pipeline of wealthy alumni. Something critical to increasing the probability of transformative donors into HBCU coffers. With only two known HBCU billionaires among all of its alumni, the question of “Can HBCUs Produce Billionaires?” remains not only a relevant question, but an absolutely necessary conversation that must be had between HBCU alumni and administrations.
$1 Million Plus Donations To All Colleges: 316
$100 Million Plus Donations To All Colleges: 14
$1 Million Plus Donations Value To All Colleges: $8.1 Billion
$1 Million Plus Median Donation To All Colleges: $11.1 Million
$1 Million Plus Average Donation To All Colleges: $25.5 Million
$1 Million Plus Donations To HBCUs: 10
$100 Million Plus Donations To HBCUs: 0
$1 Million Plus Donations Value To HBCUs: $66.7 Million
$1 Million Plus Median Donation To HBCUs: $4.0 Million
$1 Million Plus Average Donation To HBCUs: $6.7 Million
HBCU Percentage of Donations To All Colleges: 3.2%
HBCU Percentage of Donation Value To All Colleges: 0.8%
1. MacKenzie Scott – $20 million Recipient: Charles R. Drew Medicine Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
2. Calvin E. Tyler and Tina Tyler (pictured bottom right) – $20 million Recipient: Morgan State University Source of Wealth: N/A
3. S. Donald Sussman – $6 million Recipient: University of the Virgin Islands Source of Wealth: Finance
4. Eddie Brown and Sylvia Brown(pictured bottom left) – $5 million Recipient: Howard University Source of Wealth: Investments
5. Anonymous Donor – $5 million Recipient: Howard University Source of Wealth: N/A
6. Shervin Pishevar and Sarah Pishevar Haynes – $3 million Recipient: Howard University Source of Wealth: Technology, Finance, Transportation
7. Frank Garrison and Amy Garrison – $2.5 million Recipient: Fisk University Source of Wealth: Finance, Real Estate, Law
8. Anonymous Donor – $2.2 million Recipient: Alabama A&M University Source of Wealth: N/A
9. MacKenzie Scott – $2 million Recipient: Meharry Medical College Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
10. Mark Malveaux and Dawn Malveaux (pictured top) – $1 million Recipient: Southern University System Source of Wealth: Law
Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving. – Erma Bombeck
The year of George Floyd’s death and the European American guilt that accompanied it can be argued was the catalyst that led to the largest flurry of million dollar plus donations to HBCUs ever seen and it was led almost solely by one woman – MacKenzie Scott, the quietly known co-founder of Amazon who has emerged as a powerhouse in the world of philanthropy. Of the reported 37 donations of $1 million or more as reported by the Chronicle of Philanthropy to HBCUs, Ms. Scott is responsible for 22 of them. Her donation to Prairie View A&M University was the largest in the school’s history and the largest ever to a public HBCU. Questions of where the money actually ends up and who is managing it given Prairie View’s relationship to Texas A&M are worth investigation by PVAMU alumni. All the same, HBCU endowments began 2020 standing at approximately $2.1 billion combined. 2020’s million dollar plus donations to HBCUs are equivalent to roughly 33 percent of that – in one year. To put in perspective, these donations to HBCUs in 2020 were greater than Howard University’s 150 plus year old endowment and would be the equivalent of someone donating approximately $15 billion to Harvard’s endowment, which Ms. Scott actually could do. Again, unprecedented.
We have expanded our review of the data collected to include more information regarding those major donations to HBCUs as well as their presence in the overall landscape of major donations to all colleges and universities. Are HBCUs getting their share? Although HBCUs make up three percent of the United States higher education ecosystem, they do not tend to receive three percent of the philanthropic donations or value. This year breaks the mold with HBCUs receiving over 11 percent of the major donations and over 15 percent of the major donation value. Unprecedented is putting it mildly. While this infusion is beyond needed and could not come at a better time as many higher education institutions across the country are having real questions of future and long-term fiscal viability, those with well position endowments have far less to worry about in their ability to have the resources necessary to pivot in an ever changing education landscape. Despite this landslide of donations, there are still no HBCUs with a $1 billion endowment or more. Howard University is still leading the way and looking like the inevitable first, but after Howard and Spelman, there are a myriad of questions and concerns as to the endowment health of every other HBCU.
Despite no African American having the wealth to give at the scale of MacKenzie Scott, it still begs the question of where are the African American wealthy in making major donations to HBCUs on a more consistent and sustainable basis. Only 4 of the 37 donations on 2020’s list come from African American families. George Floyd’s death was clearly a catalyst for much of this giving to African American institutions in 2020, but relying on Black death as a means to spur major giving is morally problematic and acutely unsustainable. There is no reason that this list every year is not made up of predominantly African Diaspora and African American households. For reasons that are complex though, that has still yet to happen. It is also worth noting which schools received donations. While the usual suspects of Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Howard University are there, one-third of the donations went to public HBCUs whom rarely find themselves in the philanthropic spotlight. Lesser known, but just as important HBCUs like Claflin University, Lincoln University (PA), and Xavier University (LA) also showed up. A vital need is for the smaller HBCUs to receive major gifts, HBCUs like Texas College, Florida Memorial University, Virginia University at Lynchburg also badly need to receive major gifts to shore up their fiscal futures. African American households must be the one to lead that charge if major giving to HBCUs is to be burning bright tomorrow and not just a firecracker today.
$1 Million Plus Donations To All Colleges: 329
$100 Million Plus Donations To All Colleges: 7
$1 Million Plus Donations Value To All Colleges: $4.7 Billion
$1 Million Plus Median Donation To All Colleges: $6.0 Million
$1 Million Plus Average Donation To All Colleges: $14.4 Million
$1 Million Plus Donations To HBCUs: 37*
$100 Million Plus Donations To HBCUs: 0
$1 Million Plus Donations Value To HBCUs: $716.7 Million
$1 Million Plus Median Donation To HBCUs: $20.0 Million
$1 Million Plus Average Donation To HBCUs: $19.4 Million
HBCU Percentage of Donations To All Colleges: 11.2%
HBCU Percentage of Donation Value To All Colleges: 15.2%
1. MacKenzie Scott (pictured) – $50 million Recipient: Prairie View A&M University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
2.MacKenzie Scott– $45 million Recipient: North Carolina A&T State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
3. Reed Hastings & Patty Quillin – $40 million Recipient: Morehouse College Source of Wealth: Technology
4. Reed Hastings & Patty Quillin – $40 million Recipient: Spelman College Source of Wealth: Technology
5.Reed Hastings & Patty Quillin– $40 million Recipient: United Negro College Fund Source of Wealth: Technology
6.MacKenzie Scott– $40 million Recipient: Morgan State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
7. MacKenzie Scott – $40 million Recipient: Norfolk State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
8.MacKenzie Scott– $40 million Recipient: Howard University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
9.MacKenzie Scott– $30 million Recipient: Virginia State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
10.MacKenzie Scott– $30 million Recipient: Winston-Salem State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
11.MacKenzie Scott– $30 million Recipient: Hampton University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
12.MacKenzie Scott– $25 million Recipient: Alcorn State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
13.MacKenzie Scott– $25 million Recipient: Bowie State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
14. MacKenzie Scott – $20 million Recipient: Claflin University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
15.MacKenzie Scott– $20 million Recipient: Delaware State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
16.MacKenzie Scott– $20 million Recipient: Lincoln University (PA) Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
17.MacKenzie Scott– $20 million Recipient: Tuskegee University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
18. MacKenzie Scott – $20 million Recipient: Xavier University (Louisiana) Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
19. MacKenzie Scott – $20 million Recipient: Morehouse College Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
20.MacKenzie Scott– $20 million Recipient: University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
21.MacKenzie Scott– $20 million Recipient: Spelman College Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
22.MacKenzie Scott – $15 million Recipient: Clark Atlanta University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
23.MacKenzie Scott – $15 million Recipient: Elizabeth City State University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
24. Anonymous Donor – $10 million Recipient: Prairie View A&M University Source of Wealth: N/A
25. Bruce Karsh and Martha Karsh – $10 million Recipient: Howard University Source of Wealth: Finance
26. Seth Klarman and Beth Klarman – $10 million Recipient: Spelman College Source of Wealth: Finance
27.MacKenzie Scott– $6 million Recipient: Tougaloo College Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
28.MacKenzie Scott– $5 million Recipient: Dillard University Source of Wealth: Technology, Retail
29. Oprah Winfrey – $2 million Recipient: Tennessee State University Source of Wealth: Media & Entertainment
30. Matthew Cullinan and Anna Reilly – $1.7 million Recipient: Winston-Salem State University Source of Wealth: Education
31. Jim Murren and Heather Murren – $1 million Recipient: Howard University Source of Wealth: Finance
32. Charles Butt – $1 million Recipient: Prairie View A&M University Source of Wealth: Retail
33. Charles Barkley – $1 million Recipient: Miles College Source of Wealth: Entertainment
34. Kenneth Chenault and Kathryn Chenault – $1 million Recipient: Morehouse College Source of Wealth: Finance
35. Joan Johnson – $1 million Recipient: Spelman College Source of Wealth: Retail
36. Frank Baker & Laura Day – $1 million Recipient: Spelman College Source of Wealth: Finance
37. Charles Barkley – $1 million Recipient: Tuskegee University Source of Wealth: Entertainment
Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy
*Michael Bloomberg’s pledge of $100 million in 2020 to the 4 HBCU medical schools was not included in our list which was sourced strictly from the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Why is HBCU Money talking about marriage? We thought this was a site about money. Well, there are many economists and community developers that agree that one of the most fundamental ingredients to wealth building is marriage. It allows for scaling of capital towards savings and investment, reduction of expenses, and an ability to provide familial stability. Unfortunately, like our median income and wealth, there is no group less likely to actually get married than African Americans. The hurdles to African American marriage are deep and complicated and the solutions to them potentially even more deep and complicated. All that said, anything that leads to higher marriage rates between African Americans can only add to the community’s ability to actually stabilize and empower itself socially, economically, and politically. We of course acknowledge that marriages come in all forms, but the most important form is a healthy, happy, and loving marriage.
National African American Marriage Rate – 29.7%
Virginia – 34.0%
Maryland – 33.2%
Delaware & Texas – 32.8%
Florida & North Carolina – 31.3%
Georgia – 30.9%
Oklahoma – 30.0%
Arkansas – 29.8%
California – 29.7%
Alabama & South Carolina – 29.4%
Mississippi – 28.9%
The question then becomes how can HBCUs, their alumni, and other support organizations encourage more marriage among African Americans at HBCUs? This becomes vital for HBCU’s future because it could be suggested that a couple who both went to HBCUs would be more likely to send their child to an HBCU. Whereas a couple with only one HBCU parent present or no HBCU parents present is far less likely. To encourage coupling as part of an HBCU’s development strategy would by no means be simple given the ratio of women to men on HBCU campuses these days. Simply put, there are not enough men for women to choose from in the heterosexual relationships. And unless more data is collected on LGBTQ HBCU students, there may not be a viable quantity there for them either. This is why it would be important if this was to be considered that a network of HBCU development offices strategize together and increase the probability of matchmaking.
Tracking the statistics on HBCU marriage and family would also be immensely valuable information. An opportunity that certainly presents itself for further research by Hampton University’s National Center on African American Marriage and Parenting. Very little data is actually known on HBCU marriages and families.
Ultimately, HBCUs and their alumni though who can encourage more marriage among HBCU students/graduates must do so through ensuring those relationships are healthy. This means that there must be more mental and physical health development, financial literacy, and relationship etiquette taught. With seven of the ten HBCU states exceeding the national average for African American marriage the ingredients are certainly there for this seed to grow, but it indeed must be watered if we truly plan to see more marriage and healthier marriage which we know can also be one of the key tenets to community formation and building.
My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my ‘blackness’ than ever before. I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don’t belong. – Michelle Obama
A look at enrollment statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics show that currently of the HBCUs that receive federal funding (colleges such as Chicago State, Malcolm X College, and a few colleges are excluded because of the federal definition* of what an HBCU is defined as.) The problem of course with not amending that definition leaves no room for the evolution or expansion of the funding. It also continues to mean that others define us more than we define us. The acute tragedy of it means more importantly that money designated for building of African America’s higher education interest is being siphoned off by other communities. In some cases extremely so and that extreme is that on our list seven of the ten HBCUs listed have less than 50 percent of their student body being of African descent.
T1. Saint Philip’s College (TX) – 9.2%
T1. West Virginia State University (W. VA) – 9.2%
2. Bluefield State College (W. VA) – 9.5%
3. Gadsden State Community College (AL) – 17.2%
4. Shelton State Community College (AL) – 35.2%
5. Lincoln University of Missouri (MO) – 46.2%
6. University of the District of Columbia School of Law (D.C.) – 47.5%
7. Central State University (OH) – 52.7%
8. Bishop State Community College (AL) – 58.9%
9. Fayetteville State University (NC) – 59.6%
10. Edward Waters College (FL) – 61.8%
These schools are the worst of the bunch, but by no means isolated. There are a number of HBCUs where the trend line shows a decreasing population of African descent against the total population of the school and were we to increase our cutoff to 70 percent, a considerable number of additional schools would have been added. This trend is in line with the recent release from the NCES stating, “The percentage of Black students enrolled at HBCUs fell from 18 percent in 1976 to 8 percent in 2014 and then increased to 9 percent in 2020.” What does it mean for African America’s higher educational interest that HBCUs are seeing their leadership and recruitment focused on taking ethnic diversity to a potential extreme? To the point where the school’s would no longer hold or be a cultural asset to African America? These are the questions that need to be asking in urgency, because for the institutions that remaining an African American institution is important too, then strengthening their K-12 pipeline for African American high school graduates is an urgent conversation to be had. That HBCUs do not focus on an Afrocentric definition of diversity, people of African descent from different parts of the Diaspora, African Americans from different geographies, economic backgrounds, religious backgrounds, etc. would still provide diversity shows we often take our cues for higher educational direction from PWIs and not a collection of our own thoughts.
It also more importantly begs the question that if an HBCU is only Black in historic terms only, should their federal funding be redistributed to HBCUS/PBIs who are still serving the higher educational interest of African America. The HBCUs listed (excluding UDC’s law school) received $280 million of the $2.7 billion in federal funding from American Rescue Plan Investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities most recently, but given their populations, arguably very little is going to help African American students, their families, or our communities. Is the goal for the funding to be substantive to African American higher education development or just symbolic because without absolute consideration to that point, then we are simply getting more of the latter and not the former.
“The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best.” – Thomas Sowell
A DECADE! HBCU Money is still here, still growing, and still strong. We continue to be here to ask the hard questions, present strategic analysis, and be objective about African American and African Diaspora economic, finance, and investment from an HBCU and institutional perspective. The HBCU Money culture remains deeply rooted in our Pan-African values in how we observe the investment world. This means that everything we see will always believe that African America and its institutions will always be stronger together and even more empowered as they connect and partner with our brethren African Diaspora institutions and the larger Diaspora ecosystem.
What does the next decade hold for HBCU Money? More. The original goals of HBCU Money have not changed and while the path there has taken longer than we expected, our constitution is as strong as ever. We plan to expand our staff, our coverage, and the mediums through which we provide information.
Thank you to those who have been there since the beginning, who have joined along the way, and all of you who continue to be our champions.
HBCU Money 