ATLANTA-December 18, 2003 –Morehouse President Walter Massey and Spelman President Beverly Daniel Tatum announced today that the colleges are the recipients of a $1-million gift from DreamWorks SKG co-founder and entertainment executive David Geffen. The gift, which will be divided equally between the colleges, will support scholarships and arts programs on both campuses.

Geffen said when announcing the gift, "I have great respect for Morehouse and Spelman and the important role each has played in the education of some of America’s brightest and most talented African American youth. My hope is that this gift will inspire others and provide significant opportunities and support for students who need financial assistance to attain their goals."

Morehouse, a school for men, and Spelman, a school for women, both have a rich history of academic excellence and a long legacy of producing world-renowned artists, authors, musicians, actors, and directors. Distinguished alumni who have made outstanding contributions to the arts include author Pearl Cleage, composer and songleader Bernice Johnson Reagon , director and composer Wendell Whalum, film director Spike Lee, stage and film actor Bill Nunn, Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson, and his wife, actress Latanya Richardson Jackson.

Morehouse will use the gift to support the David Geffen Digital Music Laboratory at its Center for the Arts, and to establish the David Geffen scholarship fund. “At Morehouse, we believe that art is a tool for the development of leaders, a means to enrich the lives of the young men whose leadership will one day enrich the world,” said Morehouse College President Walter E. Massey. “As a leader in the arts and entertainment industry, David Geffen’s generous gift supports our vision and arts initiatives. We are extremely grateful for his commitment to Morehouse.”

Spelman will establish an endowed scholarship fund, a David Geffen Artist-in-Residence Program and support arts programming at the college with its half of the gift. “We are tremendously grateful to David Geffen for his gift,” said Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum. “We are very excited to use the proceeds to further enhance the work that we are doing here at Spelman around our advocacy through the arts initiative at the newly launched Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, and to support our talented students in the visual and performing arts.”

David Geffen is a principal partner of DreamWorks SKG, the multi-faceted entertainment company he co-founded with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg in October 1994. Over the course of his distinguished career, Geffen has made an indelible mark on the arenas of film, legitimate theatre and, most notably, music. Geffen’s professional success has enabled his foundation, The David Geffen Foundation, to provide generous support to numerous worthwhile organizations, including a recent $150,000 commitment to the United Negro College Fund for need-based scholarships to minorities from Los Angeles, California.

Spelman College
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is the only historically Black college in the nation to be included on the U.S. News and World Report's list of "Top 100 Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities," 2003-2004. More than 81 percent of the full-time faculty hold Ph.D.s or other terminal degrees and the student-faculty ratio is 12:1. The student enrollment numbers 2,121 and represents 41 states and 15 foreign countries.

Morehouse College
Ranked the number one college in the nation for educating African American students by Black Enterprise magazine, and recognized by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top feeder schools for the 15 most prominent graduate and professional schools in the country, Morehouse College is the nation’s largest, private liberal arts college for men. Founded in 1867, the College has produced three Rhodes Scholars and confers bachelor’s degrees on more black men than any other institution in the world.

Ranked the number one college in the nation for educating African American students by Black Enterprise magazine, and recognized by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top feeder schools for the 15 most prominent graduate and professional schools in the country, Morehouse College is the nation’s largest, private liberal arts college for men. The College offers 26 majors in three academic divisions: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Mathematics, and Business and Economics.

Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader; Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General and director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine; Sheldon “Spike” Lee, filmmaker and president of 40 Acres & A Mule Productions; Maynard H. Jackson, founder of Jackson Securities and the first African-American mayor of Atlanta.

###