Hitting the Jackpot Under Dr. Adams-Gaston’s leadership, scores of additional partnerships, sponsorships and gifts have been added to NSU’s portfolio. Most of them, however, came after the biggest moment in the school’s history: receiving $40 million from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation, said Dr. Adams-Gaston. “We almost fell out of our chairs,” she said of the largest single donor gift in the school’s 85-year history. “It was in 2019 that we began the conversation. After the third call, we said ‘What if they give us $1 million. It would be amazing!’ This gift really had an impact into perpetuity. We really feel like we’re on the way with the gift from MacKenzie Scott.” “That is the beauty about how forward thinking MacKenzie and her team is. This is how you make a truly transformational gift,” said Dr. Adams- Gaston who added that the majority of the $40 million gift went to NSU’s endowment, because, like many HBCUs, theirs was very low. “Gifts beget gifts. When I came here, our endowment was $29 million. Now, it’s now $80 million,” said Dr. Adams-Gaston. “What happened was, we got gifts from the Shawn Carter Foundation, BeyGOOD and Tiffany & Co, and the Landmark Foundation wanted to invest $5 million in student scholarships. Board members wanted to endow a faculty chair. We began to see that our institution was becoming a place that people trusted. Their gifts would be significantly supportive in making a difference to students coming
were well informed and well prepared. “Everybody was like ‘Oh my, how are we going to manage this?’ Dr. J just comes in and says, ‘We’re all dealing with an unfamiliar situation; we can handle this,’ and was quick to adapt to the situation,” said Chief of Staff, Dr. Tanya S. White. “For the president, the difficulties she’s experienced in the past in her other positions has helped her to be adaptable, flexible, and look outside the box. She implemented the culture of care at the university which has made all the difference in the world and a positive impact on NSU.” Dr. Adams-Gaston's response during the pandemic modeled her strategic, long- term vision for students and faculty and positively impacted the university community moving forward. She said many students attempted to do their coursework on their smartphones because they didn’t have computers while off campus, or access to wifi was a challenge. All students get the iPad or Macbook, or a MacBook Pro depending on their major, plus noise canceling Airpods and an Apple pencil. “We decided all of our students needed an opportunity to start well. The device was not the real issue; the device was the impetus for learning,” said Dr. Adams-Gaston. “We needed somebody here from Apple to help translate the learning and we were able to establish that. As a result, faculty are trained on how to engage students in the classroom using the Apple devices, and NSU’s Center for Teaching and Learning houses an Apple specialist along with an IT team.
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