Bay Mills Community College in the eastern Upper Peninsula recently received $9 million from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation. The foundation said the college can use the money however they see fit.
“We are deeply grateful for this contribution and the positive impact it will have across our homelands and Indian Country, for every student BMCC serves,” Whitney Gravelle, Bay Mills Indian Community president, said in a press release.
In 2019, famous novelist and contributor to the development of Amazon, MacKenzie Scott signed a Giving Pledge, where she promised to give away most of her wealth to charitable causes. Since then, she has been giving large donations to different organizations and charities across the country, according to an article from MLive.
This year, Scott’s donations throughout the year have been to different tribal colleges throughout the country, according to the press release. This includes $50 million to the Native Forward Scholars Fund and $5 million to the Little Tribal Priest College.
This is the first large donation BMCC has received. The college will be using this money to develop new programs and infrastructure, including a new health facility.
![The Cheboygan River Dam's sea lamprey trap can hold up to a thousand lamprey. When sea lamprey are returning to the river to spawn in the spring, the trap needs to be emptied multiple times a day. The blue crane [on the far left] by the dam is used to lift the trap out of the water.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/941e9c9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3474x1936+0+249/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F39%2F3c%2F81307d274e889e4b036955cbea28%2Fimg-1299.jpg)
