In June of 2021, Long Beach City College received a gift from high-up. That gift was $30 million from MacKenzie Scott after she divorced Jeff Bezos as part of her initiative to spread her wealth to schools across the country.
The spending of the gift was recently decided, but the question remains whether or not this is the correct approach. Much time and effort has been put into deciding its fate, so how do the options stack up?
Craig Roberts: LBCC should spend the money now to help alleviate immediate issues and those in the very near future.
We really should spend the money now, not many opportunities like this are granted where one can dump a giant heap of funds into a problem and make a serious immediate impact, or at least one in the very near future.
But with such a large amount of money, not only can some issues now be helped, but future ones as well. There’s more than one way to invest money other than just saving it.
Just as a home is an investment, so is a building. It’d be a commitment that would last longer than the funds themselves and could be easily accommodated for.
Investing in students now is also an investment for the future. Some may donate to the college in the future if they see that the college used the donation to really make an impact. Others might come back and teach, and some might end up having their own children attend. You never really know what positive results can come from simple good will.
The other issue with holding onto and investing money from something like a donation is how susceptible that money is to having its purpose changed with new officials, say 20 years from now. Whereas if the money were spent now and whatever programs or projects were finished before that point, the money would have definitely served its purpose.
While such corruption is unlikely, it’s always a possibility. And with the population of LBCC, not one worth taking. It would be a devastating blow to the institution.
Equity issues will always exist, this is simply the natural state of a capitalist society. But making attempts to help break that constant every so often are needed for both practical survivability and morale.
Spending the money now would result in many students being more motivated to work harder, seeing that the college truly wants them to succeed and is willing to go to great lengths to ensure it.
The school owes it to the students, especially coming from a pandemic, to build equity back up sooner rather than later. If we wait, equity could get worse and by the time money is ready to be spent, it would be too late as is often the case.
Eli Orozco: The Board of Trustees effectively decided how the money gifted by MacKenzie Scott will be distributed.
The LBCC board of trustees made the best decision as to how MacKenzie Scott’s $30 million gift will be used. The decision making process was transparent and well thought out. Most importantly, it is focused on making a transformational impact on campus.
The gift was given to LBCC by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, who used a large portion of her divorce settlement with the billionaire as a gift for colleges that “are chronically underrepresented.”
This gift came out of the blue, donations of this size are not common at LBCC. Despite the unexpectedness of the gift, the LBCC board of trustees took a well-thought out approach to how the money would be used.
The board of trustees decided the money will be used to benefit both current and future students at LBCC, by investing one-third of the gift to build interest.
The board built an advisory group that was selected to reflect LBCC and Long Beach’s diverse community and held meetings to help with the decision-making process. They also allowed people outside of the institution to voice their opinion as well.
Dr. Enette Morton, a professor at CSULB, was an advisor for MacKenzie Scott’s gift and said the board of trustees “had a diverse perspective.”
Since transformational gifts of this nature are not common at LBCC, having multiple public meetings on how the gift will be used helped the board of trustees identify who would benefit. Morton said, “The committee had input by students.”
Ensuring that this decision-making is transparent allows for the community outside of LBCC to have an opportunity to voice their opinion on how the gift can impact them. Although the money would only go to future students attending LBCC, the benefactors of this money can go on to become Long Beach’s leaders.
According to Mike Munoz in an interview with Inside Higher Education, LBCC was chosen as a recipient because of the school’s work on equity and racial justice.
Deciding to continue working on equity and racial justice on campus can spur future donations to be endowed to LBCC. Since LBCC is using its gift to make a transformational impact on future generations, this can lead to donors believing in that vision.
Donors give gifts like this because they want to make an impact on future generations. MacKenzie Scott intended this money to be used to create a social impact on underrepresented communities. Having part of the money be invested to help future generations of LBCC students is the best way to make a continuous social impact.
Since LBCC will be investing one-third of the gift, this can catalyze other donors to have trust in LBCC’s future vision of equity and racial justice and feel their donation will become fruition.
Progress is made with time. To see real change from a gift of this magnitude is to make a transformational change for years rather than months. This decision was made meticulously with strong inspiration for the meaning of equity and racial justice.