Chaffey's 25 Million Dollar Decision: Article 1, A Primer
By Rene Madrigal
A Profile on MacKenzie Scott
Most notable for co-founding Amazon in 1994 with her then husband Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott is a Billionaire, Author and Philanthropist.
Upon her divorce with Bezos (which left her net worth at 38.3 billion) Scott pledged to give at least half her money away to charitable causes.
Since 2021 she has donated over $19 billion to 2,400+ non-profit organizations.
One of these organizations was our very own Chaffey College, which received a $25 million gift from Scott.
"Higher education is a proven pathway to opportunity, so we looked for 2- and 4-year institutions successfully educating students who come from communities that have been chronically underserved," wrote Scott regarding the donations.
Where Is The Money?
Upon receiving the money, Chaffey put it away in a savings account to accrue interest. In which it has gained nearly $3 million ($2,752,618) over the principle.
In the Fall Semester of 2024, Chaffey’s Executive Team formed the Chaffey College Trust, of which an advisory board would decide uses for a portion (20 million) of the total funds.
This advisory board is made up of students, faculty, staff, and district community members.
A portion of the funds (~ $2 million) has already been allocated, though not necessarily spent on the following projects:
$191,433: College-Wide Student Health and Wellness Program
$50,000: study researching the loss of male students of color registered at Chaffey
$34,000: Facilitation of Campus Climate study (survey on attitudes and satisfaction on campus)
$1 Million: Overcoming Barries Funding, includes the following projects (the money here is allocated, but not yet spent):
$100,000: Community Partnerships (Foundation Outreach)
$600,000: Student Success Incentive (Provides Monetary Incentives to Students Who Reach Certain Academic Goals)
$300,000: Fueling Students Through Success Funds (Supports Students Facing Financial Barriers to Completing Educational goals)
$1,886: Student Services & Strategic Communications Student Survey Incentive
The Chaffey College Trust Advisory Board
As mentioned before, the Chaffey College Trust Advisory Board or CCTAB was only established in the Fall of 2024.
Before then the gift was kept in an account to accrue interest.
The question that naturally follows is, why was the CCTAB formed three years after the gift was given?
The answer is complicated.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal government released Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds or HEERF grants of which Chaffey received $55 million.
The difference between these HEERF grants and the MacKenzie Scott gift lies in the conditions. HEERF grants came with specifications on how the money should be spent and an expiration date.
MacKenzie Scott’s gift has very few strings attached, it has no timeline determining when it can be spent hardly any limitations on how it should it be spent.
The HEERF grants’ timeline gave it priority on it being spent, possibly putting the formation of the CCTAB on hold.
Future Discussions
Meetings are planned on February 21st, March 28th, and April 28th which will outreach to the community and receive their input.