An anonymous donor recently gave Morgan State University the second-largest donation the university has ever received from a non-alum.
The gift came in two installments: an initial $250,000 in October and $2.5 million gifted last week.
The $250,000 gift was used to support students from diverse backgrounds who were seeking to enroll at Morgan.
The latest donation of $2.5 million will be used to establish the Leading the Future scholarship fund, which will provide access to college education for over 80 students per semester.
“We are appreciative and excited that individuals are continuing to invest in Morgan publicly or anonymously and are creating opportunities for many of our students to have the financial assistance needed for them to stay in college,” the university’s president David K. Wilson said in a statement.
Beginning in spring 2022, as many as 83 students will receive up to $5,000 per semester to go towards tuition, fees, room and board, and textbook expenses.
Preference will be given to first-generation college students, students who are involved in community activism, and those majoring in hospitality, engineering, computer science, healthcare, or business.
Students in the Leading the Future scholarship program will also have access to networking events with industry leaders and group meetings with the university’s office of student success and retention.
The program will connect students to “transformational opportunities and resources that can get them over the finish line to graduation and beyond,” Wilson said.
The university also this month received $40 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the largest single private donation in Morgan’s history and the second largest gift to any public Maryland university.
