Shonda Rhimes Gift to Dartmouth Will Result in a Namesake Dorm

Television mogul Shonda Rhimes has pledged $15 million for a new undergraduate residence hall at Dartmouth, her alma mater, the university announced Monday. The hall will be named for Rhimes, making it the first building at Dartmouth to be named for a woman and also the first to be named for a Black alumnus.

Rhimes earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the university in 1991 and has since become one of the most prolific television producers and screenwriters in Hollywood. In a news release, she said the donation is a way to publicly acknowledge her formative experiences at Dartmouth.

“It’s also really beautiful to be able to place some legacy on the building, to give back what was given to me, and to leave something behind,” Rhimes said in the news release. “And at a time when it feels like people are questioning the value of higher education, it feels important to put my money back into higher education.”

Rhimes didn’t realize the historic nature of the naming aspect of her gift until Dartmouth officials told her.

“My first thought was Dartmouth wasn’t made in my image, but it is possible to remake it to include my image. There has been a continual making and remaking of who Dartmouth is for and who belongs here. I think philanthropy can set an example and open doors for other people to see what’s possible,” Rhimes said in the news release.

The youngest of six children, Rhimes grew up in a suburb of Chicago. Her parents were academics, and she said that her upbringing was somewhat sheltered. She credits Dartmouth with broadening her experiences and igniting her creative fires.

“One of the best things that came out of being at Dartmouth was the ability to try new activities that I had never done before, new intellectual pursuits and to meet new people,” Rhimes told the Chronicle.

She wrote for Dartmouth’s student newspaper and joined its Black Underground Theater Arts Alliance. By the time her senior year rolled around, Rhimes was directing the theater group’s productions.

After graduating from Dartmouth, Rhimes worked in advertising and later studied screenwriting at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She then worked a series of day jobs. In 2005, she scored her first big hit, Grey’s Anatomy, quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s most successful television showrunners, writers, and producers.

She went on to create the political thriller Scandal, and many others, and she currently serves as executive producer of the Netflix series Bridgerton. She also leads Shondaland, the television production company she founded in 2005. From 2020 to 2024, Shondaland shows generated $2.4 billion in revenue for TV streamers, according to The Economist.

Rhimes is no stranger to philanthropy. Through her Rhimes Foundation, which has about $10 million in assets, according to the organization’s most recent tax filing, she supports the arts, education, and other causes. In 2016, she pledged $10 million to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

She serves on Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees and is a founding member of the university’s women-led fundraising program, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars. It was the first time the university had ever attracted so much in donations from its affluent alumnae, and the fundraising program continues today.

She said she learned from participating in that effort that women approach giving with a strong sense of purpose, and she noticed her fellow alumae were less focused on their individual gifits than they were on creating opportunities for future Dartmouth students that may not think they belong there.

“This perspective has made me more intentional in directing resources toward efforts that amplify underrepresented voices, expand access, and generate long-term impact,” Rhimes said. “This gift is an extension of that commitment: a belief in education as a catalyst for change and in the extraordinary impact of women coming together to make that change possible.”