Netflix CEO To Donate $120M To Spelman, Morehouse

ATLANTA, GA — Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, announced that they are donating a total of $120 million toward student scholarships at historically black colleges and universities.

Forty-million dollars will go to three institutions: the United Negro College Fund, Spelman College and Morehouse College.

Hastings said that he hoped that the donation would lead other wealthy individuals to give to H.B.C.U.s.

“Generally, white capital flows to predominantly white institutions, perpetuating capital isolation,” the couple said in a statement. Hastings is worth $5.3 billion, according to Bloomberg.

"We've supported these three extraordinary institutions for the last few years because we believe that investing in the education of Black youth is one of the best ways to invest in America's future," said Quillin and Hastings. "Both of us had the privilege of a great education and we want to help more students - in particular students of color - get the same start in life."

The large donation comes after national conversations have begun about how to end systemic racism in America. The police killing of George Floyd launched protests across the county and started discussions on how to bring more Black people into workspaces, leadership positions and educational institutions.

Morehouse said this gift is the largest single donation in the college’s 153-year history. According to the college president, David A. Thomas, 60 percent of students are eligible for the Pell Grant and come from households that earn $40,000 or less.

He said in a video that this “gift will make a world class education possible for students from struggling families.

“They will gain the freedom to graduate debt free and pursue their dreams of earning advanced degrees, opening businesses and choosing careers in service without being tethered to undergraduate student loan debt.”

Over the next 10 years, 200 first-year students will be able to attend Spelman College with a full four-year scholarship.

"This historic gift in response to the historic moment we're experiencing comes from two people who care deeply about education, equity and the future of our country. We are enormously grateful for this affirmation of the importance of the work that HBCUs do to educate the next generation of Black leaders," said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman.

Spelman will use its allocation to fund a scholarship named for Spelman alumna Dovey Johnson Roundtree, a civil rights and criminal defense attorney whose groundbreaking 1955 bus desegregation case helped dismantle the practice of separate but equal.