Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
October 26, 2025

MacKenzie Scott's Record $38M Gift Transforms UMES Future

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Original Source

TLDR

  • MacKenzie Scott's $38 million donation gives UMES a competitive advantage to expand scholarships and modernize facilities, enhancing its educational offerings.
  • The unrestricted $38 million gift to UMES will be allocated to scholarships, classroom modernization, mental health services, and coastal innovation research programs.
  • This transformational donation will create lasting educational opportunities and strengthen community partnerships, making higher education more accessible for future generations.
  • MacKenzie Scott's record $38 million gift to UMES marks her largest single donation to any Maryland higher-education institution in history.

Impact - Why it Matters

This donation represents a significant investment in educational equity and regional economic development. Historically Black colleges and universities like UMES have long served as crucial pathways to higher education for underrepresented students while facing substantial funding disparities compared to predominantly white institutions. Scott's unrestricted giving model empowers these institutions to address their most pressing needs directly, whether through scholarship expansion, infrastructure improvements, or program development. For students and communities on Maryland's Eastern Shore, this translates to enhanced educational opportunities, improved campus resources, and strengthened regional economic partnerships. The timing is particularly significant as HBCUs nationwide continue to demonstrate their outsized impact in producing diverse graduates in STEM fields and other high-demand industries, making such investments essential for building a more equitable educational landscape and workforce pipeline.

Summary

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has made history with a groundbreaking $38 million donation to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, marking the largest single gift in the historically Black university's 135-year existence. This transformative contribution, announced by UMES officials, represents one of the most significant philanthropic investments ever made in Maryland higher education. University President Heidi M. Anderson described the unrestricted donation as "nothing short of transformational," emphasizing that it will enable the institution to make lasting investments in students, faculty, and the broader community while fundamentally changing the university's trajectory.

The substantial funding will be strategically deployed across multiple critical areas, including expanding student scholarships, modernizing classroom facilities, and enhancing mental health services for the campus community. Additionally, UMES plans to strengthen programs that create valuable jobs and internships while bolstering research initiatives in coastal innovation and agricultural development—key industries that drive Maryland's Eastern Shore economy. Jay A. Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, highlighted how this support will significantly amplify UMES's role in regional economic development and community partnerships, creating ripple effects that extend far beyond the campus boundaries.

This remarkable $38 million gift follows Scott's previous $20 million donation to UMES in 2020, bringing her total contributions to the institution to $58 million. Combined with her recent $63 million donation to Morgan State University—another Maryland HBCU—Scott has now directed more than $200 million to the state's historically Black colleges and universities. The author and philanthropist, who gained global attention following her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has consistently demonstrated her commitment to addressing educational inequities through unrestricted giving. As highlighted in the original citybiz coverage, this latest contribution underscores the vital role HBCUs play in expanding access to higher education and driving regional economic growth.

Source Statement

This curated news summary relied on content disributed by citybiz. Read the original source here, MacKenzie Scott's Record $38M Gift Transforms UMES Future

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