Dillard U. gifted with a $5M donation

By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $5 million to Dillard University on December 15, the largest donation the university has ever received from a single donor. On the same day, she also donated $10 million to the United Way of Southeast Louisiana, the largest gift in that organization’s 96-year history.

Scott, a novelist and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is listed as the second richest woman in the world according to Forbes. Her estimated worth is $60.7 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Throughout 2020, she has donated significant sums to historically Black universities, including a $20 million gift to Xavier University of Louisiana in the summer.

“Ms. Scott is assisting many organizations to carry out their important missions. All of us at Dillard University are incredibly grateful to be among those,” Dr. Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard, said in a press release.

Dr. Marc Barnes, vice president for institutional advancement at Dillard, said in the press release that Scott’s gift would enable the university to carry out strategic initiatives that would help during the pandemic as well as aid Dillard’s plans for the future.

In a Medium blog post on December 15, Scott wrote: “The pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling. Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”

Scott said her team of advisers took a data-driven approach to identifying organizations with strong leadership and a history of results. They also sought to give special attention to organizations that served communities facing high food insecurity, racial inequity, poverty and low access to philanthropy. Dillard University was one of those organizations she chose to help.

Scott’s latest round of donations were not solely devoted to educational institutions. They also went to non-profits like the United Way SELA. A press release from the United Way SELA stated the money would accelerate their ability to fund proven, long-term strategies for creating systemic change and equitable communities.

United Way SELA President and CEO Michael Williamson spoke in the press release about their work and Scott’s generosity.

“Faced with a once-in-a-generation challenge, Southeast Louisiana stepped up in response to the impact of COVID-19 and hurricanes. United Way staff, donors, volunteers and partners came together in an unprecedented way, generating over $16 million in impact – and their efforts were noticed in a grand way,” said Williamson. “We are forever grateful (for Scott’s donation) and recognize the significant responsibility that comes with the gift – the duty to invest and leverage every cent to help our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Scott wrote in her blog that non-profits are often chronically underfunded and are forced to spend too much of their time fundraising. These organizations also often have to rigorously report spending to donors. Scott wanted her donations to go to whatever the universities and non-profits thought was best.

“They (the recipients) were told that the entire commitment would be paid upfront and left unrestricted in order to provide them with maximum flexibility,” Scott wrote.

Scott’s recent donations was part of the Giving Pledge Initiative, created by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates. The pledge asks the world’s richest people to donate large sums of their fortunes to charity. Scott has donated over $4.2 billion in the last four months 384 organizations in the United States (including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico).

This article originally published in the December 21, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.