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Spelman College receives historic $100 million donation, the largest single gift to any HBCU
One of the country’s leading educational institutions for Black women in science, technology, engineering and math just became the recipient of the largest single donation ever given to a historically Black college or university, or HBCU, in the United States.
Spelman College, a liberal arts school for women in Atlanta that is ranked first among HBCUs by U.S. News World & Report, accepted a historic $100 million contribution that will help fund student life and scholarships for years to come.
“I’m just feeling overjoyed,” said Helene Gayle, the president of Spelman College, on “CBS Mornings” Thursday. “This is such a historic moment, and it will mean so much not only to the girls who are at Spelman now, but for young women far into the future. It’s just amazing.”
The vast majority of the donation will go toward endowed scholarships, Gayle said, which should allow the college to support students who are currently enrolled at Spelman and provide aid to others hoping to attend in the future.
Lovette Russell, chair of Spelman’s board of trustees, shared in an announcement on campus just how valuable that opportunity is for promising undergraduates and prospective undergraduates who deal with financial challenges that could thwart their path to a degree.
“As a student, I experienced the power of this historic institution and how it transforms the futures of talented young women,” said Russell, addressing a crowd of buzzing students gathered on campus. “I know that some of the brightest young women who dream about coming to Spelman are facing financial hardships and barriers toward higher education. What I am sharing with you today is a major step to ensure more young women can achieve their dreams.”
The remaining 25% of Spelman’s new donation will help fund housing and other critical projects at the school. Gayle described the gift as “transformative,” and noted that it opens doors to a wide range of exciting possibilities for a college where students and staff already “do so much with so little.”
“We have this incredible group of young women,” Gayle said. “They go on to be doctors, lawyers and scientists.”
The National Science Foundation has ranked Spelman among the top U.S. higher education institutions whose students go on to earn their Ph.D., and has ranked it specifically as the leading producer of Black women who subsequently earn their doctorates in STEM fields, according to the college.
Spelman’s historic donation came from Ronda Stryker, the billionaire businessperson who has for several decades helmed her family’s namesake medical equipment company. Stryker is also one of the longest-serving board members at Spelman, and she and her husband, William Johnston, have given significant donations to the college before, with this latest one being the largest.
Gayle told “CBS Mornings” that she believes Stryker chose to donate to Spelman because her long tenure on the board has given her a chance to witness the impact of the college on young women who study there. The president also said she hopes the gift will inspire others to invest in HBCUs more broadly.
“When I talk to women who graduate from Spelman, they say, ‘We developed such a sense of ourselves, such a sense of confidence that we know we can go anywhere, that when we’re in a room, we belong there,'” said Gayle. “And that’s the power of what Spelman and a Spelman education can do. And that’s what Ronda Stryker has had the opportunity to see, up close and personal.”
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President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration starts off with mostly good will from the public: a majority of Americans overall are either happy or at least satisfied that he won and are either excited or optimistic about what he’ll do as president.
Trump’s handling of his presidential transition gets approval from most Americans overall and brings near-universal approval from his voters, along with a net-positive response about his selections for Cabinet posts, in particular, Sen. Marco Rubio, who is Trump’s pick to be secretary of state.
After inflation and the economy so dominated the election, Americans are more inclined to think his administration will bring down prices for food and groceries rather than raise them, and his voters overwhelmingly say that. Going into the election, his backers expected that, too.
In a similar vein, Trump’s election already has some Republicans’ views of the economy improving.
Overall, Republicans today are more excited about what Trump will do as president now than they were in 2016 when he was first elected.
Democrats say they feel more scared about what Trump might do than they did in 2016, and a large majority of Democrats think as president he will threaten their rights and freedoms. But at the same time, there seems to be a sense of exhaustion, as fewer than half of Democrats feel motivated to oppose Trump right now.
Americans, and Democrats specifically, do think the Biden administration should work with the incoming Trump administration to ensure a smooth transition, and that congressional Democrats should work with Donald Trump on issues where they find common ground.
Trump and the economy
After winning comes expectations. There’s a net optimism about the incoming administration’s effect on food and grocery prices, especially among Trump’s voters. That comes as most Americans continue to say prices are currently rising. And inflation was a big factor in Trump winning in the first place.
It may be no surprise then that among many potential items for the incoming administration, Americans say plans to lower prices ought to be the top priority.
The percentage of Republicans who call the U.S. economy good, while still low, has gone up, as the percentage who call it very bad has dropped. That pushes voters’ overall evaluation of the economy slightly higher than it’s been this year — and further spotlights how much partisanship, along with optimism, always plays into these evaluations.
Trump selections of Cabinet and agency chiefs for his administration
Trump’s current selections for agency heads and Cabinet picks get rated overwhelmingly as good choices from Trump’s voters, and are net-positive as selections among Americans who have heard enough about them to say. (Many have not heard enough yet.)
As a general rule, Americans want Trump to appoint people who’ll speak their minds and who have experience in the field or agency they’ll run. But in addition to those qualities, Republicans also want people who’ll be loyal to Trump.
A large majority of Republicans and Trump voters think Elon Musk should have at least some influence in the Trump administration. Americans overall are more split on that, largely along partisan lines.
Big majorities of Americans — and a slight majority of Republicans — would like to see the Senate hold hearings on his nominations, rather than let him make those appointments without it.
(Within self-identified Republicans, MAGA Republicans are relatively more inclined to say the Senate should skip the hearings.)
That sentiment holds whether or not people are told or reminded that the Constitution says the Senate should give advice and consent.
As a general matter, though, most of Trump’s voters and most Republicans do want Trump to have more presidential power this term than he did in his last. That sentiment is higher among Republican voters now than during the campaign.
Trump policies
On another economic front, Trump’s voters overwhelmingly favor the idea of tariffs: most of them don’t believe that will make prices higher. (For the third who believe tariffs will raise prices but support them anyhow, this is presumably a cost they’re willing to bear.)
For the public overall, opposition to tariffs goes hand in hand with the belief they’ll lead to higher prices.
As was the case with voters throughout the campaign, most Americans would, in principle, approve of a new mass deportation program.
If the Trump administration does start a mass deportation program, most of the public would have it carried out by law enforcement or current immigration agencies — most would not have the U.S. military do it.
Elections and democracy
The 2024 results have shifted Republicans’ views of U.S. democracy and also returned some confidence to their view of U.S. elections. Few Republicans suspect fraud in 2024. They overwhelmingly did about 2020.
Following Trump’s victory, there’s been an increase in the number of Republicans who say democracy and rule of law is secure, though most Americans continue to say it is not.
Looking ahead, there’s another shift along partisan lines. Throughout the campaign, Republicans said America’s best days were in its past, while Democrats felt they were in the future. These views are reversed now. After Trump’s win, most Republicans feel America’s best days are in its future.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,232 U.S. adults interviewed between November 19-22, 2024. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.3 points.
