Throughout the fall 2025 semester, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated some $850 million to HBCUs and organizations that support them. Her total investment in HBCUs, issued over the past six years, is upwards of $1.2 billion.
Now, Elizabeth City State University is the latest HBCU to receive a record-breaking gift. Last week, ECSU Chancellor Keith S. Hargrove announced that Scott had donated $42 million — nearly triple the amount she gifted to the university in 2020, bringing her total investment in ECSU to $57 million in just six years.
“I want to express our deepest gratitude to MacKenzie Scott for this remarkable act of generosity and for her recognition of the critical role that HBCUs play in expanding opportunity and strengthening communities,” said Chancellor Hargrove. “Her investment affirms what we already know: that institutions like ECSU are powerful catalysts for change.”
Chancellor Hargrove says Scott’s donation will play an integral role in the university’s ASCEND 2030 strategic plan. The investment will create endowments for student scholarships and academic programs, as well as support infrastructure improvements for academic, athletic, and residential facilities.
The HBCU community truly appreciates all of the substantial fiscal and in-kind support the Makenzie Scott Foundation has provided to HBCUs over the years and now with Elizabeth City State University. HOWEVER, can somebody within the HBCU community who has access to Ms. Scott, please tell her it would TRULY APPRECIATED if her foundation could make a similar donation to Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) in Itta Bena, MS.
The facts remain, MVSU has been a beacon of pride and a gateway for opportunities for Black Americans who reside in the very challenging Mississippi Delta region. In close, if the Mackenzie Scott Foundation would like to contact someone affiliated with MVSU, simply contact me via this platform and we can proceed from there.
Sincerely,
HBCU Watch