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Shonda Rhimes is making history at her alma mater, Dartmouth College.
According to The Darmouth, Rhimes, the Emmy-winning producer, author, and creator of hit series Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, pledged $15 million to Dartmouth College to fund a new undergraduate residence hall that will bear her name.
The Shonda Rhimes Hall, set to be completed in 2028, will be the first building at Dartmouth named after a woman and the first named after a Black alum.
“It’s an opportunity to show how formative my college experience was for me,” Rhimes said in a statement. “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. 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 graduated from Dartmouth in 1991 and has remained actively engaged with the college, serving on its Board of Trustees and supporting initiatives such as the reopening of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, where she once performed and directed as a student.
The new five-story residence hall will house 123 upper-level students in apartment-style suites. It will also include unique features designed to foster creativity and well-being, including a studio, soundproof rooms, and a grand piano in the common area.
“This extraordinary gift is pivotal for Dartmouth at this time,” Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock said in a statement. “It will directly enhance the student experience while reimagining a key part of campus. I’m grateful to Shonda, who has made a career of creating inclusive worlds where any one of us can be the protagonist of the story. We are honored that her name will grace this building and be a beacon of welcome to the generations of Dartmouth students who will write their own stories here with that same expansive sense of possibility.”
Construction on Shonda Rhimes Hall is set to begin in early 2026.
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