Nearly two years after committing $100 million to initiatives centered on social justice and racial equity, Netflix is pushing its efforts to financially support Black-led institutions forward. The company’s co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings—along with his wife film producer Patty Quillin—recently gifted Tougaloo College with a $10 million donation, the United Negro College Fund reported.
Tougaloo College announced a $10 million donation to fund scholarships for low-income students from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin as part of the pair’s efforts to financially support historically Black colleges. https://t.co/iUATseQqDr
— Mississippi Today (@MSTODAYnews) February 21, 2022
Half of the endowment will go towards the creation of scholarships for underserved students pursuing careers in the areas of business, education, medicine, healthcare and other fields. The rest will help advance the Brown University-Tougaloo College Partnership; a program founded over five decades ago that sits at the intersection of education and cultural exchange.
The couple says it’s imperative to invest in historically Black colleges and universities because these institutions have produced leaders who have shaped their respective industries and been at the forefront of driving change. “HBCUs have been vastly undervalued for a long time,” the couple shared in a statement. “They have an incredible track record of graduating so many Black leaders across the U.S.—doctors, lawyers, engineers and more. By investing in the extraordinary students who attend Tougaloo and Brown, we’re investing in America’s future.”
Carmen J. Walters—who serves as president of the Mississippi-based HBCU—says the gift is “a living testimony to their strong belief in the value of giving, the value of education and the value of HBCUs” and will “transform the lives of Tougaloo College students.” The endowment is historic as it is the largest gift the Brown-Tougaloo program has ever received.
Tougaloo College isn’t the first HBCU Hastings and Quillin have donated to. In 2020, they generously gifted Spelman College, Morehouse College and the United Negro College Fund with $40 million each. “We hope this additional $120 million donation will help more Black students follow their dreams and also encourage more people to support these institutions—helping to reverse generations of inequity in our country,” they shared.
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