INDIAN RIVER STATE COLLEGE NEWS
22
ONE YEAR LATER
TCBusiness.com
INDIAN RIVER STATE COLLEGE
Indian River State College president, Dr. Timothy Moore, announced news of the $45 million gift during the 2020 fall commencement ceremony.
College moves forward with projects
funded by Scott’s multimillion dollar gift
One year ago, author and philanthropist
MacKenzie Scott pledged $45 million
to Indian River State College, the largest
individual donation in the college’s 60-
year history.
The gift came without prescription.
“We believe that teams with experience
on the front lines of challenges will
know best how to put the money to good
use, we encouraged them to spend it
however they choose — but with great
responsibility,” Scott wrote on her blog.
The gift was made as part of the Giving
Pledge, which is a non-binding promise
Scott signed to donate the majority of
her fortune during her lifetime to address
some of society’s most pressing problems.
In 2020, IRSC was among 384 organizations
that Scott made large gifts to after
her team of advisers considered some
6,500 organizations along with data
analysis on community needs, program
outcomes, and each nonprofit’s capacity to
absorb and make effective use of funding.
Donations focused on those communities
that were facing high projected
food insecurity, high measures of racial
inequity, high local poverty rates and low
access to philanthropic capital and given
with no strings attached.
IRSC announced news of the gift at its
2020 fall commencement ceremony, reaffirming
its critical mission and the commitment
of its newly appointed president
to redefine and reframe the narrative on
how American community colleges can
better serve their constituencies.
“Our mission is to take students from
any part of society and find ways to help
them achieve their full potential,” IRSC
President Dr. Timothy Moore said. “Ms.
Scott has provided IRSC with a uniquely
transformative opportunity to accelerate
our ability to make post-secondary
education attainable for citizens of our
region, regardless of their circumstance
or background.
“She has changed the trajectory for
IRSC, and we in turn will change the
trajectory for our students and our community,”
he said. >>
BY SUZANNE SELDES
/TCBusiness.com