Shonda Rhimes, a television producer and Dartmouth alumna and trustee, has pledged $15 million to construct an undergraduate residence hall on her alma mater’s campus. Set to open during the fall 2028 semester, the Shonda Rhimes Hall will become the first building on Dartmouth’s campus to be named after a woman or a Black graduate.
The new five-story residence hall will provide housing for 115 junior and senior students. It is the latest addition to Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock’s plan to invest $500 million to create at least 1,000 new beds for students, faculty, and staff within the next 10 years.
“This extraordinary gift is pivotal for Dartmouth at this time,” said President Beilock. “It will directly enhance the student experience while reimagining a key part of campus. I’m grateful to Shonda, who has made a career of creating inclusive worlds where any one of us can be the protagonist of the story. We are honored that her name will grace this building and be a beacon of welcome to the generations of Dartmouth students who will write their own stories here with that same expansive sense of possibility.”
A television show-runner, producer, screenwriter, and author, Rhimes is the founder and chief executive officer of her own entertainment company, Shondaland. She has created several popular television series, including Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, and Bridgerton.
In addition to her work as a member of the board of trustees, Rhimes is an active alumna of Dartmouth who frequently visits the campus and contributes to the college’s film and media studies program. She delivered the commencement speech for the college’s Class of 2014.
“It’s an opportunity to show how formative my college experience was for me. It’s also really beautiful to be able to place some legacy on the building — to give back what was given to me and to leave something behind,” said Rhimes. “And at a time when it feels like people are questioning the value of higher education, it feels important to put my money back into higher education.”
Speaking to her gift’s historic nature, Rhimes continued, “Dartmouth wasn’t made in my image, but it is possible to remake it to include my image. There has been a continual making and remaking of who Dartmouth is for and who belongs here. I think philanthropy can set an example and open doors for other people to see what’s possible.”
What a DAMN travesty for the highly misinformed and BLACK UNCONSCIOUS Shonda Rhimes to WILLINGLY give millions to a historically and current racist institution (DARTMOUTH) that was literally linked to the rapacious and brutal Transatlantic Slave Trade. If Ms. Rhines ‘love the Black American community’ so much, then she NEEDs to direct the same amount of fiscal love to any of our beloved HBCUs who are always in needs to substantive financial support. For those lost miseducated degree holding so-called Blacks who dissent, do you think you’ll ever see someone from the Jewish community donating millions to a German university that has links to the Nazism.
Yikes. Just want to make sure I understand: She should not give to her alma mater UNLESS she gives the same amount to any HBCU of her choosing?