During a time of hardship that is the COVID-19 pandemic, one Georgia college received an unexpected gift from a charitable organization. The Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) was given $26.3 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, an organization founded by entrepreneur and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
What We Know:
- The donation is actually a part of $100 million fund aimed to help students attending the country’s four historically Black medical schools: Morehouse School of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, and Meharry Medical College.
- Students attending the Morehouse School of Medicine and who are enrolled in the student aid programs will be awarded around $100,000 each. This is reportedly the largest scholarship investment ever received by the MSM.
- The MSM President and Dean Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD stated, “this historic investment in the Morehouse School of Medicine will lift the crushing burden of student debt and empower our graduates to take on the systemic racial inequities and injustice that have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.”
“These dollars will help free up future doctors to immediately head to the front lines and save Black lives while also improving healthcare access, equity, and quality for everyone. We appreciate Mayor Bloomberg’s investment in health equity,” he continued.
- According to a statement by the MSM, Bloomberg noted that “Black doctors will mean more Black lives saved, and fewer health problems that limit economic opportunity”. He went on to explain that during his time running for president, he proposed a bold policy dubbed the “Greenwood Initiative,” an effort to shrink the racial wealth gap.
- All two, three, and four-year students will receive the $100,000 to aid in financial help with medical school. The payout will be done in the form of incremental scholarships of $25,000 per year through their graduations. This will apply to the current class of first-year students graduating in 2024.
- This isn’t the first time students were graciously hit with news as great as this. A little less than a year ago, Billionaire Robert Smith, paid off the student debt of the entire class of 2019. The money helped a school program cover the cost of various types of loans for its students.
This Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative got its name based on a Tulsa, OK community of the same name, which also happens to be the historical site of “Black Wall Street” and the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. The organization aims to create generational wealth among Black families who have fallen victim to underinvestment in the country.
