The recent Supreme Court rulings striking down affirmative action in college admissions sent shockwaves throughout higher education, raising deep concerns about the future diversity at American universities. Donors and those working in philanthropy also find themselves concerned over how they can prevent a backslide under the new legal regime after spending decades working to expand opportunity. One swift response came from NBA superstar Charles Barkley, who committed $5 million to Auburn University, his alma mater, earmarked specifically for Black students and driven in part by the court decision.
Aside from his history of donations to Auburn, Barkley has a track record of supporting historically Black colleges and universities, a racial justice funding strategy that has picked up momentum in recent years and could become a larger focus for donors going forward. Barkley’s backed a who’s who of HBCUs, including Tuskegee University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.
Giving to historically black colleges and universities has not always been a mainstream funding cause, though. In fact, they’d seen funding from foundations decline over the years. In 2019, large private foundations gave HBCUs an underwhelming $45 million, not adjusted for inflation — a 31% decrease over 2002. Since 2020, however, we’ve seen some signs that things are changing, at least modestly, thanks in part to a handful of megadonors. MacKenzie Scott alone made a flurry of HBCU gifts to institutions like Prairie View A&M University ($50 million), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University ($45 million), Morgan State University ($40 million) and Bowie State University ($25 million).
While new donors to the cause should be celebrated, it’s important to remember the legacy of Black donors, who have been funding in this space for many years. The late baseball legend Hank Aaron was a big backer of HBCUs alongside his wife Billye. Oprah Winfrey has long supported HBCUs. The question is, will other donors now follow suit, prompted by uncertainty surrounding other college diversity efforts, or perhaps inspired by high-profile donors like Barkley and Winfrey? For now, here’s a list of some of the top Black donors in this space:
Frank Baker
Cofounder of Siris Capital Group in New York, Frank Baker, along with his wife Laura Day made a $1 million scholarship gift for Spelman College graduates in 2020. He was motivated in part by billionaire Robert F. Smith, whose own giving in this area we’ll get to. As for Baker, he’s also involved with the United Negro College Fund and has spoken about the importance of HBCUs.
The couple recently took up residence in Florida, where in the spring of 2022, the Bakers made a $1.2 million donation to Florida A&M to establish the Frank and Laura Baker Graduation Fund, which will provide funding for students who are qualified to graduate in four years but have an outstanding account balance. “It’s up to us to actually train the younger generations and show them the power it has for our community. And the easiest ones to touch are those who benefited from these gifts. It’s my expectation that they pay it forward,” Baker told me in an interview last year.
Oprah Winfrey
With a $2.5 billion net worth, this media mogul has long been on our philanthropy radar, going back to her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa and her scholars program. Her Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation has donated more than $400 million through the years.
On the HBCU philanthropy front, the 69-year-old donated $13 million to Morehouse College to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program in 2019. Oprah has donated at least $25 million to the Atlanta-area HBCU. “I felt that the very first time I came here,” Oprah said. “The money was an offering to support that in these young men. I understand that African American men are an endangered species. They are so misunderstood. They are so marginalized.”
Oprah also donated $1.5 million to the United Negro College Fund toward scholarships for Black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private HBCUs, and has supported Spelman College, where she has delivered the commencement address.
Michael Jordan
I’ve written about the escalating philanthropy of Michael Jordan, the greatest player who ever laced up basketball shoes. Ever since the mid-2010s, Jordan’s giving game has ramped up, too, with a series of gifts related to racial equity and social justice. He’s also funded healthcare in North Carolina.
On the HBCU front, in 2021, MJ and the Jordan Brand donated $1 million to Morehouse College to boost the school’s journalism and sports-related studies program. “Education is crucial for understanding the Black experience today,” said Jordan at the time. “We want to help people understand the truth of our past, and help tell the stories that will shape our future.”
Robert F. Smith
Wall Street billionaire Robert F. Smith put himself on the map as a philanthropist and elevated the profile of HBCUs when he announced during his Morehouse commencement address that he would pay off student loans for every member of the Morehouse class of 2019 — worth about $34 million. Up until 2019, no one outside of finance circles really knew about Smith, who quietly became the richest Black American and currently has $8 billion to his name. Smith’s philanthropy through his Fund II Foundation hits several different buckets, including the arts and environmental issues. And his education giving is not limited to HBCUs. But within that realm, when I spoke with him back in the spring of 2021, he was excited his Student Freedom Initiative, which he’s supported with a $50 million personal gift and another $50 million from Fund II Foundation.
The initiative began by supporting STEM students at select HBCUs including Prairie View A&M University in Texas; and Bennett College, in Greensboro, North Carolina, which in 1956, saw educator Willa Beatrice Player become the first Black female president of a four-year, fully accredited liberal arts college. Smith is looking for more funding for the initiative so that every STEM student at every HBCU across the country can participate. “That will probably liberate the Black community more effectively than anything else I could think about,” he told me in our interview.
William F. Pickard
A graduate of Western Michigan University, University of Michigan and Ohio State University, where he received his Ph.D., William Pickard is a prolific Detroit entrepreneur — co-owner of Real Times Media, co-managing partner of MGM Grand Detroit Casino, and chairman of Global Automotive Alliance. His low-profile Pickard Family Foundation supports the William F. Pickard Business Scholarship Fund, which aims to award $100,000 over five years to business students at select HBCUs, including Benedict College, Claflin University and Clark-Atlanta University. In 2019, Pickard and his cousin, Judson W. Pickard Jr., meanwhile, donated $2 million to Morehouse College to create the Pickard Scholars Program, which supports Black students from metro Detroit, Flint, greater Cincinnati, and LaGrange, Georgia. Pickard’s children attended Morehouse.
Spike Lee
Director Spike Lee has a handful of passions: His beloved Knicks, his beloved Brooklyn, and his beloved alma mater Morehouse College. One of his first films, “School Daze” (1988), explored hazing culture at a fictional HBCU. Lee has supported Morehouse for years, including a gift in 2007 to bankroll a journalism and sports program at the college, chaired by longtime sports journalist Ron Thomas. Charles Barkley has also supported this program. More recently, Lee launched the Spike Fellows Program to support the next generation of Black Hollywood filmmakers and executives coming out of HBCUs in Atlanta.
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There are other donors we might have mentioned, including NBA sharpshooter Steph Curry, who gave a seven-figure donation in 2019 to Howard University to launch the first-ever men’s and women’s Division-I golf program in its 152-year history; and Wall Streeter Suzanne Shank, a supporter of Spelman College, where she’s a trustee. Black donors have long been major supporters of HBCUs, and this cause might become an even greater focus in the coming years.
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