LBCC: LBCC Receives Historic $30 Million Gift From Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott

Press release from Long Beach City College:

June 15, 2021

Long Beach City College (LBCC) received a tremendously generous gift of $30 million from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. This is the single largest donation the College has received in its almost 95-year history, and one of the largest single-donor gifts given to a California Community College.

The award was given in recognition of LBCC’s leadership and transformative work in responding to the College’s changing demographics, closing equity gaps, and work in racial justice. LBCC also intensified its race-conscious efforts and adopted the Long Beach Framework of Reconciliation in Support of the Black Community to address the College’s own institutional racism that may hinder students of color from success. These actions were in response to the protests that took place in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and others in the Black community last summer.

The unrestricted gift will be prioritized for initiatives that:

“We are grateful for this generous gift to Long Beach City College’s equity and racial justice work,” said Long Beach Community College District (LBCCD) Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk. “Today’s announcement is a recognition of the transformational programming and institutional change driven by Dr. Mike Munoz in addressing the needs of our entire student body. These funds will expand on that work to accelerate academic outcomes, increase economic opportunity and expand upward mobility for generations of LBCC students.”

LBCC’s notable equity and racial justice accomplishments include:

“It hasn’t been easy to have those hard and uncomfortable conversations about institutional racism within Long Beach City College,” said LBCCD Interim Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz. “We acknowledged that we need to dismantle the barriers that sometimes prevent our most vulnerable students from succeeding. These courageous efforts made by our students and employees and led by our Board of Trustees are being recognized and validated. I hope this gift inspires those who may be uncertain about changing the status quo to join our institutional movement from being color blind to a race-conscious approach.”

LBCC is one of the most diverse colleges in the country with a total of 86 percent of LBCC students identifying as students of color. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution with students who identify as Latinx representing more than 58 percent of LBCC’s student population. LBCC is also an Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) with students who identify as Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander representing 11 percent of the population. Black students account for another 11 percent of the population.

“Congratulations to the LBCC students, faculty, and staff for this wonderful gift from MacKenzie Scott in recognition for their equity and racial justice work. They localized the Vision for Success to help close achievement gaps in a number of ways, including increasing the number of students of color to complete transfer-level English and math. California community colleges are proud to see one of our own be honored in this remarkable way,” said Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley, California Community Colleges.

In May 2019, Scott signed the Giving Pledge, a promise to give away at least half her fortune to charitable causes during her life or after she dies. In today’s announcement, Scott is donating $2,739,000,000 in gifts to 286 other organizations across the country.

This press release was produced by Long Beach City College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.