PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — With just a few weeks left in 2020, Prairie View A&M University managed to squeeze in one more historic moment.
“$50 million from MacKenzie Scott,” said PVAMU student body president Alanna Gaskin. “Phenomenal. Like, it’s amazing. When the students and I received the notification of this donation, of course we were shocked, but we were also elated in saying that this will help further invest into the programs and departments that help the students succeed academically, professionally, socially.”
It's a $50 million hand up in a year when so many of us have been pushed down.
“It’s incredible, that amount. It’s hard to even fathom,” said PVAMU provost James Palmer. “A university like Prairie View, in fact, at one point had its entire budget at about $50 million.”
Scott’s gift is the single largest donation made to Prairie View A&M, a historically black college or university that’s about an hour drive from Houston.
“We are actually in 35 different counties across the State of Texas,” said Palmer, who thinks that’s why the university was chosen.
Its reach is far. $10 million is already helping juniors and seniors who are barely making it in this pandemic.
“We think that it will help relieve the burden on students who are working two and three and sometimes even four jobs just to make ends meet to pay educational expenses," Palmer said.
$40 million is going to the university’s endowment which will fund new faculty positions, “making sure that we’re on the cutting edge of new research and technology,” said Palmer of the endowment boost that will help raise the university’s profile, help to graduate more students and benefit the Texas economy.
“I believe right now, our country is focusing on this idea of equity in education. It’s important to the larger societal change,” Palmer said. “We need more diverse leaders in companies in industry and in our country to change our society for the better.”
In a year which spotlighted the need for racial and social justice and equality, a $50 million donation is confirmation that change is happening.
“HBCUs are rich in culture, tradition, academic merit, and it’s amazing that individuals are investing their money, resources,” Gaskin said.
“There’s no way to really thank her for all that she has done,” Palmer said. “The benefit will be years from now when we see the graduates walk across the stage.”
It's a game-changing moment for a 144-year-old university in a year full of unexpected milestones.