Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has channelled more than $1.2 billion in largely unrestricted gifts to historically Black colleges and universities, reshaping the financing landscape for those institutions. Scott’s 2025 philanthropy—part of a multi‑year pattern that included $7.1 billion in giving this year—has funded endowments, chairs and operational flexibility at multiple HBCUs; Howard University used a Scott gift to establish the Toni Morrison Endowed Chair in Arts and Humanities. Scott credits author Toni Morrison, her mentor at Princeton, with influencing both her writing and philanthropic priorities. For college leaders and development officers, Scott’s model—large, unrestricted grants targeted at institutional autonomy—marks a contrast with narrower corporate or program‑specific donations and raises questions about long‑term sustainability and donor influence.