Lincoln University receives $20 million donation from MacKenzie Scott

Lincoln University is one of 384 organizations to receive a donation from philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott. 

The Chester County-based HBCU was the recipient of a $20 million gift on Tuesday. Scott’s gift is the largest from a single donor in the school’s 167-year history, according to the university.

The donation will be used toward new investments in teaching, research, and faculty development, as well as to provide each student with an opportunity to participate in a high-impact co-curricular activity. Those activities include internships, study abroad programs, and undergraduate research, the school said.

"We are very grateful to be a recipient of a gift of this magnitude," said Lincoln University President Brenda Allen. "Ms. Scott's transformative investment allows the University to remain committed to sustaining Lincoln's legacy as a liberal arts institution and achieving recognition as a model for academic excellence.”

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The school said that Scott’s gift will also help the university provide more educational opportunities to students from vulnerable populations and bolster scholarships funds that are designed to help students facing financial hurdles.

“This gift illustrates the worthiness of Lincoln University. I hope that other philanthropists will join Ms. Scott's commitment to investing in the University's mission and ability to educate students from vulnerable populations to achieve a lifetime of success,” said Dwight Taylor, who serves as the chairman of the Lincoln University Foundation of Pennsylvania.

Scott, who was formerly married to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, announced on Tuesday that she donated over $4 billion to 384 organizations across the country during the last four months.

The United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, the Greater Philadelphia YMCA and Easterseals Southeastern Pennsylvania were also recipients of donations from Scott.

These donations are meant to provide support to people suffering from the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Scott wrote on Medium. 

“This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” Scott wrote. “Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”

Organizations that were selected to receive financial gifts were identified as those working in communities that are facing high levels of food insecurity, racial inequality, and poverty rates, as well as limited access to donations.

Food banks, emergency relief funds, civil rights advocacy groups and educational institutions were among the many organizations to receive a donation from Scott.

“These 384 carefully selected teams have dedicated their lives to helping others, working and volunteering and serving real people face-to-face at bedsides and tables, in prisons and courtrooms and classrooms, on streets and hospital wards and hotlines and frontlines of all types and sizes, day after day after day,” Scott wrote. 

“They help by delivering vital services, and also through the profound encouragement felt each time a person is seen, valued, and trusted by another human being. This kind of encouragement has a special power when it comes from a stranger, and it works its magic on everyone.”