ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Elizabeth City State University received a $42 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott on March 13, according to ECSU News.
Chancellor S. Keith Hargrove, Sr. announced the donation during his keynote speech at ECSU's Founders Day Convocation.
“I want to express our deepest gratitude to MacKenzie Scott for this remarkable act of generosity and for her recognition of the critical role that HBCUs play in expanding opportunity and strengthening communities,” Hargrove said. “Her investment affirms what we already know: that institutions like ECSU are powerful catalysts for change.”
The gift is the largest dollar per student enrolled gift of any historically Black college and university (HBCU) out of Scott's recent donations, according to ECSU. It is triple the amount that Scott last gave the university in 2020.
The donation comes just as ECSU has launched its five-year strategic plan, according to the university. The money will be used to create endowed scholarship programs, establish endowments to support academic programs and growth and support academic, athletic and residential infrastructure, Hargrove said in his speech.
“Gifts like this do more than provide resources; they accelerate momentum,” Hargrove said. “This gift allows institutions like Elizabeth City State University to move boldly toward the future while remaining grounded in the mission that has guided us for 135 years.”
Scott, who divorced Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2019 after helping him build the company for years, signed the Giving Pledge, a promise by wealthy philanthropists to "give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetime or wills," according to the Giving Pledge website.
Scott donated more than $7 billion to more than 120 organizations in 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal. She previously donated $50 million in 2025 and $40 million in 2020 to Norfolk State University, according to past reports by News 3.
"In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share," Scott wrote in her Giving Pledge letter in 2019. "My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty."
