YOU NEED TO KNOW
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In 2021, Santa Barbara City College received a $20 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the largest donation in the school’s history.
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Just weeks ago, the school’s Board of Trustees issued a statement saying they were “disappointed to learn” that some of that gift “was used without express authorization”.
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In a statement to PEOPLE, Santa Barbara City College Foundation CEO Bobbi Abram acknowledged the “failure of the accounting process,” but stressed that the money was used “in the spirit of the donor’s intent.”
A California community college was given $20 million by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott – but some of the money was used without proper authorization, according to officials.
Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees President Jonathan Abboud said in a statement late last month that the board was “concerned” by Scott’s “unauthorized use” of the 2021 donation, the largest in the school’s 112-year history.
In a separate statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Santa Barbara City College Foundation said the donation “effectively funded a large portion” of their Promise Program, which provides tuition assistance, books and other supplies for local high school students.
Bobbi Abram, CEO of the SBCC Foundation, told SFGATE that approximately $10.5 million of the billionaire philanthropist’s donation was used for the program from 2021 to 2024.
Abram said the funds were used without approval from the foundation’s board, Santa Barbara City College officials or the school’s board of trustees, according to the outlet.
Now, $13 million remains of Scott’s original gift.
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Abboud went on to say that while the board of trustees was “disappointed” to learn what happened, they were “nevertheless grateful to the current leadership and staff of the SBCC Foundation for identifying the past unauthorized activity and initiating a comprehensive review of the SBCC Foundation’s accounting practices and rapidly improving internal controls.”
The school noted that its board of trustees had begun its own investigation since the SBCC Foundation is a separate legal entity.
Moving forward, Abboud said the SBCC Board “will continue to work collaboratively with the SBCC Foundation to appropriately address this matter and ensure full transparency and accountability for the use of gift funds.”
When reached for comment by PEOPLE, Abram said the foundation wants to stress that the funds were not “misused.”
“More than 1,800 local students are supported by the Promise each year. This is a nationally recognized program that makes higher education accessible to local families,” said Abram. “The use of some of Scott’s gift funds for the Promise was not a ‘misuse.’ It was completely consistent with the Foundation’s mission and in the spirit of the donor’s intention”.
“What is it it was it is a failure of the accounting process and a lack of transparency and authorization that we discovered in 2025 and have now corrected,” continued Abram.
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The SBCC student newspaper The Channels and SFGATE reported that Abram took over as CEO of the SBCC Foundation in May 2024 and conducted an audit after finding inconsistencies in accounting records early last year.
“Because this misstatement occurred at fund level, it was outside the scope of [a previous] audit, and it was the previous management’s responsibility to report it to the auditors,” Abram told SFGATE.
Abram said the SBCC Foundation is working to keep a closer eye on its accounting moving forward to prevent situations like this, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.
Scott has made many notable donations to educational institutions and other organizations across the country.
In 2020, according to a report from Rutgers University, she gave more than $560 million to 23 historically Black colleges and universities across the country.
Analyzing the immediate impact of Scott’s donations, Rutgers researchers found that, “on average, the median enrollment of new students was more than 300 students greater for HBCUs that received funding compared to the median enrollment for those that did not receive funding.”
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According to SFGATE, she also gave $38 million to the University of California, Merced right after giving $50 million to California State University, East Bay. In 2025 alone, it has given more than $7.1 billion to non-profit groups.
Scott, who is dedicated to giving away the majority of her fortune during her lifetime, is currently estimated to have a net worth of nearly $40 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire index.
In the years since her divorce from Jeff Bezos became official in 2019, resulting in an estimated $36 billion settlement, Scott has “transformed” philanthropy with her generous, unrestricted donations, according to a three-year study published by the Center for Effective Philanthropy last year.
Read the original article on People