It’s not an everyday occurrence when a community college leader gets a phone call telling them their institution will receive an influx of funding in the millions. But such was the case at many two-year schools across the U.S. when MacKenzie Scott, one of the richest women in the world, decided to make a major investment in community colleges.
Dr. Yoshiko Harden
“It’s very unusual, especially in community technical colleges, for a college to just get a sum of what’s basically unrestricted funds to support their mission,” says Dr. Yoshiko Harden, president of Renton Technical College (RTC), which benefited from Scott’s largess.
Since then, the recipient institutions have put their gifts of millions of dollars to use in several ways, seeking to enhance what they offer to the many – and often underprivileged – students that they serve.
