Those who attended the recent 17th annual Maya Angelou Women Who Lead Luncheon in Charlotte, North Carolina, cheered when Oprah Winfrey made a huge donation so minorities in the state could afford college.
The event, put on by the United Negro College Fund, was held on Saturday, and while giving a speech on leadership Winfrey asked how much money had already been raised.
Afterwards, a big screen showed that $1.15 million was raised, slightly more than the $1 million goal set by the UNCF. Winfrey then made the announcement that seemingly stunned the whole room.
“So here’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to match that number!” she said, which immediately brought the total up to $2.3 million.
The applause went on for quite a while, and some showed their gratitude by running onto the stage to hug Winfrey.
“I believe in the power of education,” she said at the close of her speech. “There is nothing better than to open the door for someone.”
Later that Saturday, a UNCF representative posted a video of Winfrey offering the donation and wrote “Boom! The awesomeness that is @oprah just matched the $1 million dollars that was raised during the #UNCF Charlotte Maya Angelou Women Who Lead Luncheon. Yes, so now over $2 million was raised to support #HBCUs this afternoon!”
“This was such a magical moment! So happy I was able to witness it!” one person wrote underneath the video.
“Awesome,” tweeted another.
Winfrey is no stranger to supporting education. In 2007 she founded the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, and she also paid for a lot of people’s tuition.
In fact, it was something she had to remind someone who threw her a little shade earlier this year.
It happened when billionaire businessman Robert F. Smith said during a commencement speech he’d pay off all of the student debt for Morehouse’s 2019 graduating class.
Later, at least one person said Winfrey should’ve done the same thing for a graduating class, which she responded to.
“I already paid 13m in scholarships. Have put over 400 men thru @morehouse1867,” she tweeted.
