In what is being described as the largest individual gift ever given toward scholarships at historically black colleges and universities, Spelman and Morehouse colleges and the United Negro College Fund will share $120 million from philanthropist Patty Quillin and her husband Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reported on Wednesday, June 17, that the $40 million being given to each of the private Atlanta colleges exceeds any past donations to them. The timing, when protesters are filling the streets after multiple highly-publicized killings of black men and women, was no accident. The couple noted they are giving as Americans try “to start addressing the inequities faced by black people” and add that they hope to inspire donations from others to help more black students attend an historically black college.
UNCF, Spelman and Morehouse “have proven they can improve mobility and create new generations of leaders — helping increase justice, equality and opportunity in America,” Quillin and Hastings said in a statement provided by Netflix. “Yet they are disadvantaged when it comes to philanthropy,” their statement says, adding that the median endowment across all of America’s HBCUs is $15.7 million compared to $36.8 million for non-HBCUs, with no HBCU endowment in the top 100.
The two Atlanta colleges have benefitted from other large donations.In 2018, corporate director Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston, gave $30 million to Spelman, the largest gift to the school at that point. Last year, Oprah Winfrey gave $13 million to scholarships at Morehouse, doubling down on her $12 million gift three decades earlier, for a total of $25 million.
According to CNET, Hastings credited the CEO of the United Negro College Fund, Michael L. Lomax, for helping him and his wife understand the importance of historically black colleges and universities.
“What happens is that white capital tends to flow to predominantly white institutions. And it’s just what you know and are comfortable with and have grown up with,” said Hastings on CBS This Morning. “And he offered to help Patty and I get to know the HBCUs. … And then this year, with the tragedy in America and everyone feeling hopeless, we realized this is the time to do something bigger, and to really try to bring the HBCU story front and center.”
Netflix is one of the many tech firms to make donations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. Hastings also donated $1 million to the Center for Policing Equality.
Hastings is also reportedly one of the country’s biggest donors to education reform and has been quietly funding a large center for education reform in Colorado, Recode reported.
