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 school history.
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A few weeks ago, the school’s board of trustees released a statement saying they were “disappointed to learn” that some of that gift had been “used without clear authorization.”
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In a statement to PEOPLE, Santa Barbara City College Foundation CEO Bobby Abrams acknowledged the “accounting failure” but insisted the money was used “in the spirit of the donor’s intent.”
A California community college was given a $20 million gift from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott — but some of the money was used without proper authorization, according to officials.
Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees Chairman Jonathan Abboud said in a statement late last month that the board was “concerned” by the “unauthorized use” of a 2021 donation from Scott, the largest in the school’s 112-year history.
In a separate statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Santa Barbara City College Foundation said the grant funded “a substantial portion” of its Promise program, which provides tuition assistance, books and other supplies for local high school students.
SBCC Foundation CEO Bobby Abrams told SFGATE that about $10.5 million of the billionaire philanthropist’s donation was used for the program from 2021 to 2024.
Abrams said the funds were used without the approval of the foundation’s board, Santa Barbara City College officials or the school’s board of trustees, the outlet said.
Now, $13 million remains from Scott’s original gift.
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Abboud said that while the board of trustees was “disappointed” to learn what happened, it was “grateful to the current leadership and staff of the SBCC Foundation for identifying past unauthorized activities and conducting a comprehensive review of the SBCC Foundation’s past accounting practices and promptly improving internal controls.”
The school noted that since the SBCC Foundation is a separate legal entity, its board of trustees has launched its own investigation.
Going forward, Abboud said the SBCC board “will continue to work closely with the SBCC Foundation to appropriately address this issue and ensure full transparency and accountability for the use of gift funds.”
When reached for comment by PEOPLE, Abrams said the foundation wanted to emphasize that the funds had not been “misappropriated.”
“Each year more than 1,800 local students are supported by the Promise. This is a nationally recognized program that makes higher education accessible to local families,” said Abrams. “Using some of the Scott Gift Fund for Promise was not a ‘misuse.’ It was entirely consistent with the foundation’s mission and the spirit of the donor’s intent.”
“Is this was An accounting process failure and a lack of transparency and authority that we identified in 2025 and have now corrected,” Abrams continued.
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SBCC’s student magazine channels And SFGATE reported that Abrams took over as CEO of the SBCC Foundation in May 2024 and conducted an audit after discovering discrepancies in accounting records early last year.
“Because this misrepresentation occurred at the funding level, it was outside the scope of this [a previous] It was the previous management’s responsibility to audit, and report to the auditors,” Abrams told SFGATE.
Abrams said the SBCC Foundation is working to closely monitor its accounting to prevent such situations. Santa Barbara Independent.
Scott has made many notable donations to educational institutions and other organizations across the country.
In 2020, he gave more than $560 million to 23 historically black colleges and universities across the country, according to a report from Rutgers University.
Analyzing the immediate impact of Scott’s grant, Rutgers researchers found that, “on average, the average enrollment of new students was more than 300 students higher for HBCUs that received funding compared to the median enrollment for those that did not receive funding.”
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According to SFGATE, he gave $38 million to the University of California, Merced, after gifting $50 million to California State University, East Bay. In 2025 alone, he gave more than $7.1 billion to nonprofit groups.
Scott, who is dedicated to giving away most of his fortune during his lifetime, is currently estimated to have a net worth of around $40 billion. Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
In the years since her divorce from Jeff Bezos became official in 2019, resulting in a nearly $36 billion settlement, Scott has “transformed” philanthropy with her large, unrestricted donations, according to a three-year study published last year by the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Read the original article on People
