MacKenzie Scott Expands Giving Spree to Tribal Colleges; The New York Times, November 20, 2025

Alan Blinder, The New York Times ; MacKenzie Scott Expands Giving Spree to Tribal Colleges

[Kip Currier: Imagine if more billionaires shared their good fortune with more people in need throughout the U.S. and the world, like MacKenzie Scott is.]

[Excerpt]

"The philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is funneling tens of millions of dollars into tribal higher education, months after the Trump administration sought to cut one of the system’s most essential funding sources.

The donations could help shield some tribal schools — which measure their reserve funds and endowments at best in the low millions, not billions — and their students from budget bickering in Washington. Ms. Scott has not made public comments about her recent gifts, but according to the recipients, the funds will support at least one tribal school and a nonprofit group that focuses on scholarships for Native American students.

Little Priest Tribal College, in Winnebago, Neb., announced on Thursday that Ms. Scott had given it $5 million. The school learned of the gift as it was planning a capital campaign that, officials hoped, might raise $10 million over a decade.

“There’s a sense of happiness, a sense of hope,” Manoj Patil, the college’s president, said in an interview. He said of Ms. Scott, “She’s given us hope, hope for success, hope to dream big.”"

The Best or Worst Moment to Take a Risk?; Wall Street Journal, 4/14/15

Clare Ansberry, Wall Street Journal; The Best or Worst Moment to Take a Risk? :

"At uncertain times, why take a risk? When unmoored by illness, loss, or divorce, people tend to avoid further disruptions and cling to what anchors them—from relationships to routines to places. It is “especially hard to let go when you don’t know what [is] going to come next,” the late William Bridges, an author and consultant, wrote in his book “The Way of Transition: Embracing Life’s Most Difficult Moments.” Yet taking a risk is often what people need to move forward.

For some, uncertainty itself becomes a motivator. “If I’m going to do what I want to do, I better do it now,” says Susan Bridges, who was married to Mr. Bridges and is president of the consulting firm William Bridges & Associates, based in Larkspur, Calif., which helps people and organizations deal with change."