American billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg has announced that a series of grants worth $600 million will be presented to five historically Black colleges and universities.
The donations are being channeled specifically to the universities’ medical colleges, and Mr. Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization said it hopes they will sprout greater representation in the medical sector, where Black doctors make up just 6% of the national labor force.
According to CNN, $175 million will go to Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine.
Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science will receive $75 million, while Xavier University of Louisiana, which is opening a new medical school, will also receive a $5 million grant.
Xavier was not counted by CNN as an HBC, but they describe themselves as such.
The donations will more than double the size of three of the medical schools’ endowments, Bloomberg Philanthropies said, relieving hundreds of thousands in student medical school debt at least, but at present other uses of the money have not been decided on.
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The announcement comes just weeks after Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $1 billion gift to Johns Hopkins Medical School, one of the largest single donations in the history of American philanthropy.
In 2020, Bloomberg donated $100 million to four of these five schools, with most of the money going to reducing the debt load of enrolled students, based on a campaign promise made during Bloomberg’s brief stint in the 2020 Democratic Primaries.
Last year, the former mayor of New York donated over $3 billion to charity, making him one of the most prolific American philanthropists that year.
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How generous and wise of Mr Bloomberg! Even though he gave more than 5x this amount to one predominantly white institution, he realizes that these HBCUs not only produce many of the needed doctors for minority communities; they have never discriminated and have many white students in attendance.
It will “sprout greater representation in the medical sector, where Black doctors make up just 6% of the national labor force”. I think it is awesome…. more black doctors helping the black community where they are very much needed. I THINK THIS IS AWESOME!!