Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey has given Morehouse College a $5 million donation to fund scholarships. The gift brings Winfrey’s contributions to the Atlanta school to a total of $12 million, making her its largest individual donor, according to Morehouse spokeswoman Elise Durham. Winfrey also became the first recipient of Morehouse’s Candle for Lifetime Achievement in Humanitarian Service award. So far, scholarships funded by the Oprah Winfrey Endowed Scholarship Fund have helped 250 students from 20 states and seven countries continue or complete their education. The talk show host says her original goal was to put 100 men through Morehouse, but now “I want to make it one thousand.”
Deal Reached In Largest Housing Discrimination Case
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has settled a 1980 lawsuit brought by three African Americans aimed at integrating public housing in East Texas. The settlement, which affects an estimated 10,000 low-income families, brings an end to what was considered the largest housing discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history. A federal judge found HUD had maintained a system of segregated housing in 36 counties and ordered the 176 public housing sites throughout the region desegregated so that no more than 75% of their residents are of one race. Federal court oversight of HUD’s operations in East Texas will end when the agency creates an additional 1,500 integrated housing units in the region.