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Denzel Washington directed and starred in an award-winning film inspired by Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Wiley College in 2008. Now he’s paying his respects back to the college with a generous gift from his family foundation. According to an announcement, the Denzel Washington Family Foundation has paid its fourth $100,000 installment toward its $1 million commitment to the Texas HBCU in support of students on the legendary Wiley College debate team. Wiley College was home of the film, “The Great Debaters,” that depicted Washington as a college professor who helped coach the university’s student-led team on its 10-year winning streak in the 1930s, according to a press release. The movie showed how the team went on to pioneer interracial collegiate debates during the Jim Crow era. The release also reported that Washington’s family foundation made its first $1 million pledge to the college back in 2007, and continued donating $100,000 each year for a decade. The...
Two Black girl scholars are being celebrated for going above and beyond for their debate team. According to Black Enterprise, 16-year-old Jayla Jackson and 17-year-old Emani Stanton have been honored by the Harvard Debate Council for being the first-ever Black girl duo to take home the grand prize title for the team. “Our 4th consecutive championship win was brought home to Atlanta by Jayla & Emani with an #UNDEFEATED record as they became the FIRST EVER Black girl duo to win Harvard’s international debate competition against over one hundred debaters from around the world,” the Harvard Diversity Project said on their official Instagram account. “They have shown the world what’s possible when the playing field is leveled!” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Harvard Diversity Project (@harvarddcdp) Jayla and Emani are part of Harvard University’s Harvard Diversity Project, which was founded in 2017 by coach and author Brandon Fleming. The Atlanta-based Diversity Project...
These intelligent Atlanta teens have accomplished a historical feat as we now know them as “The Atlanta Great Debaters.” According to 11Alive , Madison Webb and Christian Flournoy — high school students and participants in the Harvard Diversity Project — snagged a victorious win for their third consecutive year at the prestigious Harvard University Debate Competition. Both Webb and Flournoy made history as the first Black female student and youngest Black boy to come out of the competition victorious. Together they beat out students from over 25 countries around the world. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @veritasgeorgia As part of the Harvard Diversity Project, the two teens have helped the program gain notoriety and strengthen its reputation for what 11Alive reports as “positioning Black youth to receive full scholarships to Ivy League and elite colleges and universities.” Each year the program recruits a new group of 25 talented students in the metro Atlanta area to...