Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin just made the largest single individual gift ever to support scholarships at historically Black colleges and universities, CBS News reports.
On Wednesday (June 17), journalist Gayle King announced that the couple will give $120 million to be split equally between Morehouse College, Spelman College, and the United Negro College Fund.
JUST ANNOUNCED: @Netflix co-founder & CEO @ReedHastings and his wife Patty Quillin say they'll give $120M, to be split among @Morehouse & @SpelmanCollege & @UNCF — the largest single individual gift ever to support scholarships at historically black colleges and universities. pic.twitter.com/33ZLzdNLzW
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) June 17, 2020
Hastings credited Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, for showing him and his wife the significance of these institutions.
“What happens is that white capital tends to flow to predominantly white institutions,” Hastings said. “And he offered to help Patty and I get to know the HBCUs… And then this year, with the tragedy in America and everyone feeling hopeless, we realized this is the time to do something bigger, and to really try to bring the HBCU story front and center.”
Hastings’ unprecedented donation is the latest action to accompany a series of actions by Netflix to stand in solidarity with the Black community.
“We realized that if we really wanna support the HBCUs in the right way, we should dig deeper,” he said. “And so that’s where, you know, Patty and I wanted to really go big and really start the ball rolling… As big and wonderful as this gift is, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the need.”
In addition to Hastings’ commitment to HBCUs, Netflix released a Black Lives Matter-centric collection and pledged $5 million to several Black organizations, including Know Your Rights Camp, the Posse Foundation, and Black Girls Code.
