TikTok is giving 10 colleges $10 million to boost minorities in health care
If nothing else, 2020 has shown just how important health care workers and public health experts are. So, in an effort to show their support, TikTok is donating $10 million to 10 colleges serving underrepresented students.
The video social network website made the announcement Wednesday, saying that each school would receive $1 million to support both undergraduate and graduate scholarships for students pursuing careers in medicine, public health or other health-related fields.
The ten schools benefiting are Xavier University of Louisiana, Tougaloo College, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina A&T University, South Carolina State University, Laredo College, University of South Dakota, Florida A&M University, Delaware State University and Virginia Union University.
In a statement, TikTok said the gifts would help “ensure the success of future Black, Latinx, and Indigenous health heroes.”
“We believe investing in the next generation of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous doctors, nurses, pediatricians, surgeons, and other essential health care workers is one of the best ways to invest in the future of America,” the statement said.
The gift comes as colleges across the country suffer financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year in particular — due to an ongoing racial reckoning in the US — has also seen many philanthropists give to historically Black colleges and universities.
Back in June, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife donated $40 million to Morehouse College, $40 million to Spelman College and $40 million to the United Negro College Fund.
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, formerly married to Jeff Bezos and now the richest woman in the world, donated millions to multiple HBCUs in July. For Howard University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Hampton University and Tuskegee University, it was at the time the largest donation in the institutions’ histories.
