Spelman College receives $100 million gift believed to be single-largest donation to an HBCU, school says
By Maxime Tamsett, CNN
(CNN) — Spelman College, a private women’s college in Atlanta, will receive a $100 million gift, which the school says is the largest single donation to a historically Black college or university.
The donation comes from longtime Spelman trustee Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston, the chairman of the wealth management fund Greenleaf Trust, the college announced in a release.
“We are invigorated and inspired by this incredible act of generosity,” said Spelman president Dr. Helene Gayle in a statement. “This gift is a critical step in our school’s mission to eliminate financial barriers to starting and finishing a Spelman education.”
The historic $100 million gift comes as Spelman marks 100 years since its naming in 1924. The college is one of only two historically black women’s colleges and is a part of the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of four HBCUs in the city.
Stryker has been a trustee of the college since 1997 and also serves as the director of the medical technology company Stryker Corporation, which was founded by her grandfather.
The school noted that $75 million of the donation will be used for endowed scholarships, helping the college “continue to attract the best and brightest students” while removing financial hurdles that may prevent prospective Spelmanites from enrolling.
The remaining $25 million “will be used to develop an academic focus on public policy and democracy, improve student housing and provide flexible funding to meet critical strategic needs,” the college said.
“We can’t thank Ronda Stryker enough for her selflessness and support as both a trustee and friend. There’s no doubt that Spelman College is better because of her,” Gayle said.
The couple has gained a reputation for generous philanthropy. They previously bestowed Spelman with $30 million – the largest gift the college had received from living donors – and gifted $100 million to Western Michigan University in 2011 to help create the institution’s Homer Stryker medical school.
The hefty donation to Spelman comes a week after the United Negro Fund announced it is receiving $100 million from the Lilly Endowment Incorporation that will be used to build a pooled endowment fund for its 37 HBCUs, which include Spelman.
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CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.
