Xavier receives largest private individual donation in institution’s history

By Aviwe DuBois
Contributing Writer

Xavier University of Louisiana was one of six historically Black universities to receive institutional donations as part of a $1.7 billion charitable effort by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

The donation will allow the university to expand scholarships, endow new faculty positions, and make much-needed investments university-wide, to sustain the mission of the nation’s only Catholic and historically Black university, the administration said.

“This is a remarkable demonstration of support and encouragement for Xavier and its mission, and a reminder that what we do is important-not only at the university, but also within our global community,” said C. Reynold Verret, Xavier’s president, who worked directly with Scott’s representatives on behalf of the institution. “This gift will enhance the university’s capacity to educate in the medical sciences, pharmacy, law, the arts and the social sciences.”

On July 28, Xavier announced that the university received the $20 million gift from an anonymous donor, but preferred to keep the name of the donor private. Scott did identify Xavier in her own announcement, however, as one of the institutions she has selected as part of a larger effort of philanthropy. Her initial gifts to nonprofits aimed to address racial equity, LGBTQ+ equity, gender equity, economic mobility, empathy and bridging divides, functional democracy, public health, global development and climate change. Scott is estimated to be worth $58 billion and is listed as the second richest woman in the world, according to Forbes magazine, after her divorce from Amazon founder and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos in 2019.

“I began work to complete my pledge with the belief that my life had yielded two assets that could be of particular value to others: the money these systems helped deliver to me, and a conviction that people who have experience with inequities are the ones best equipped to design solutions,” Scott said in her official announcement of her donations.

The $20 million gift has become Xavier’s largest private donation from an individual to date, university officials said. The gift was secured following conversations between Verret, and representatives of the donor, in which they discussed Xavier’s historic mission and commitment to educating students of color, particularly African-American students.

Five other historically Black colleges and universities also announced their donations alongside Xavier.

Howard University received $40 million; Hampton University received $30 million; Tuskegee University announced it had received $20 million; Morehouse College announced it had received a six-figure gift; and Spelman College also announced they were one of the recipients.

In addition to the gift from Scott, both Spelman and Morehouse colleges, along with the United Negro College Fund, were also recipients of a major gift from Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin in June 2020, which at the time was one of the largest gifts to support scholarships at historically Black universities. Both the UNCF and the Thurgood Marshall Fund were part of the 116 organizations that received funding from Scott, with each receiving $1 million to support scholarships for African-American students.

“Last year I pledged to give the majority of my wealth back to the society that helped generate it, to do it thoughtfully, to get started soon, and to keep at it until the safe is empty,” Scott said in her official statement. “There’s no question in my mind that anyone’s personal wealth is the product of a collective effort, and of social structures which present opportunities to some people, and obstacles to countless others.”

Xavier officials said the gift will allow the institution to advance educational equity and to continue to offer its students a high quality education. Verret said the gift will allow Xavier to continue to lead in the nation of producing graduates who become medical doctors, and leaders in the social sciences, humanities and the arts.

“[This gift] means that this institution, to whom I’ve been called to serve and I love will be able to extend the legacy that Katharine Drexel began more than a hundred years ago here in New Orleans, in Louisiana,” Verret said. “It’s about the work of all my life, which has been to pass on the gifts that were passed on to me to others. It is worthwhile work, and to have others come and join us in this work is not just encouragement, but it’s also about making it possible.”

This article originally published in the August 3, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.