From Fortune:

Ronda Stryker and her husband William Johnston are donating $100 million to Spelman College in Atlanta, the largest-ever single donation to a historically Black college or university. $75 million will go to scholarships, and the rest will be used for improvements such as student housing and for developing an academic focus on public policy and democracy.

HBCUs have small endowments compared with other colleges, but have seen an increase in donations since the racial justice protests spurred by the killing of George Floyd. Spelman College received a $100 million donation this week, on top of a previous $30 million donation in 2018.

Spelman College recently announced its largest-ever single donation, a $100 million gift from billionaire couple Ronda Stryker and William Johnston. This donation is considered transformational to any institution and is the largest-ever sum granted to any historically Black college or university.

While HBCUs generally suffer from a lack of investment, Spelman College has enjoyed relative financial stability and saw its endowment reach $571 million in 2021. The $100 million donation to Spelman comes a week after the United Negro College Fund announced a separate $100 million donation to HBCUs, with a like-minded goal of securing the long-term financial stability of the schools.

Over the years, several HBCUs have received substantial donations, including a $560 million donation by MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to 22 Black colleges, UNCF and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin, founders of Netflix, also donated $120 million, while former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $100 million.



Read more: HBCU women’s school Spelman College gets $100 million donation from billionaire couple Ronda Stryker and William Johnston