20 October 2025
By Lauren Burke
Contributing Writer
(Black Press USA) — In the world of major philanthropy, where naming buildings gets all the headlines, MacKenzie Scott is operating differently. Over the past several years, Scott has made hundreds of unrestricted donations to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other Black operated organizations.
Last week, it was announced that Morgan State University would receive $63 million from Scott. President David Wilson described the $63 million gift as not just a financial boost, but also an affirmation of the university’s trajectory as a research institution. Wilson announced that Morgan State would be turning into a “fully smart campus,” with new faculty positions and AI research embedded in its future.
Adding to Scott’s largesse to Morgan State was a $20 million donation from alumnus Calvin Tyler and his wife Tina. Calvin Tyler, who was the first in his family to attend college, enrolled at Morgan State College in 1961. Because of a lack of funding, he was forced to interrupt his studies and took a job at UPS in 1964. He retired from UPS in 1998 having worked his way up the corporate ladder. Upon retirement he was the senior vice president of operations and a member of the company’s board of directors.
The Calvin and Tina Tyler Endowed Scholarship Fund provides full tuition scholarships for select need-based Morgan State students
It was just last month that MacKenzie Scott gave $70 million to UNCF. The September contribution added to a previous $10 million donation Scott made in 2020. It was one of her largest single known donations and focused on financially strengthening historically Black colleges and universities.
Study after study shows that HBCU endowments trail other institutions by more than 50-70 percent. The disparity in access to philanthropic capital has also meant that many Black colleges are more vulnerable to budget shortfalls, declines in enrollment, deferred maintenance, and fewer research resources. Scott’s large donations have the potential to shift the baseline and ensure that Black educational institutions can plan over decades in advance.
A student of Toni Morrison’s at Princeton, Scott has now generously given tens of billions to hundreds of organizations.
Louisiana Weekly staff members contributed to this story.
This article originally published in the October 20, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.