Anonymous Donor Gives Black High School Football Scholarships for Earning Straight-As

An anonymous donor is helping Black high school football players who get straight A’s go to college with a scholarship, CBS News reported. The initiative started in 2018 when the athletic director of Centennial High School in Georgia was approached by someone close to the program with the idea, WSB-TV reported.

“They saw a picture on Twitter of a group of our scholar athletes and noticed while there is a large group of African American student athletes on the football team, there was a small percentage represented with our scholar athletes,” Burch told the station.

Each semester that a player earns straight As, they get $25,000 toward college, Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Over four years, a student could earn $200,000. The goal is to help students be debt-free after college.

Jordan Barbas and Evan Walker, two players at the school, told CBS News that the money is life-changing.

"I was like, it's real?" Barbas said.

Barbas also noted he would not have been a straight-A student without it.

The donor hopes to continue to remain anonymous, Burch told CBS News.

"It's about the kid earning it and the kids taking advantage, and not him giving the money. You know, celebrate that," Burch said. 

Related Stories