Billionaire MacKenzie Scott donates $20 million to MS Gulf Coast Community College
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is one of 286 organizations across the country to receive part of $2.7 billion in donations from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
The school will get $20 million, the largest gift in MGCCC’s history, Associate Vice President of Institutional Relations Christen H. Duhé said in a press release.
Scott announced the donations Tuesday morning in Medium blog post, explaining that she is working with a team of researchers and advisors “to give away a fortune that was enabled by systems in need of change.”
The 286 organizations were chosen for their community-centered service “in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked.”
MGCCC President Dr. Mary S. Graham said in the press release the $20 million gift will have a “transformational impact” on the school and the Coast community.
“Ms. Scott believes ‘higher education is a proven pathway to opportunity.’ At Gulf Coast, we work hard to provide every student with hope for a rich and fulfilling life,” Graham said. “It makes me proud that Ms. Scott and other generous Gulf Coast donors and supporters recognize the good work we do, and they trust us to continue that work.”
The money will be used to support the college’s strategic plan, called Excelerate 2030.
Duhé listed some points of pride for the school in the past year:
- The Process Operations Technology program was one of eight in the country to win the Excellence and Equity in Community College STEM Award by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and the Siemens Foundation.
- MGCCC was named the No. 1 Community College in the state by Schools.com
- The Associate Degree Nursing program was ranked as the No. 1 program in the state for the second year in a row by RegisteredNursing.org
- MGCCC was recognized as the No. 1 Military Friendly School in the large community college category by Military Friendly
This is the third round of donations made by Scott. In 2020, she gave “a combined $6 billion to COVID-19 relief, gender equity, historically Black colleges and universities and other schools,” the Associated Press reported.
She again emphasized equity in Tuesday’s blog post, saying she wants to “de-emphasize privileged voices and cede focus others.”
“...It would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands, and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others,” Scott said.
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 6:05 PM.
