Sean “Diddy” Combs Donates $1 Million to Jackson State University
Credit: Image Credit: Phillip Faraone / Stringer / Getty Images Entertainment- Sean “Diddy” Combs donated $1 million to Jackson State University’s athletics department on Saturday.
- The rapper plans to also donate to Howard University this year, according to pledges he made in 2022.
- Diddy attended Howard in the late 1980s and was awarded an honorary degree from the institution in 2014.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is making good on his 2022 pledge to donate millions of dollars to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
The rapper and producer presented Jackson State University with a $1 million check on Saturday in between the first and second quarters of the institution’s football game against South Carolina State.
In a video posted to Diddy’s Instagram account on Sunday, he’s seen on the football field at Georgia State Center Parc Stadium while holding a large check made out to JSU’s Development Foundation and athletics department.
If it wasn’t for HBCUs, I wouldn’t be here,
he told ESPN when asked what prompted the generous donation. Supporting HBCUs is not just my honor, it’s my responsibility.
This initial contribution was given to JSU’s Acting President Dr. Elayne Hayes Anthony, and its Vice President and Director of Athletics Ashley Robinson.
According to the university’s press release, Diddy will invest additional funds into JSU football in installments over the next several years.
Diddy initially pledged to donate these funds during the 2022 BET Awards while accepting a lifetime achievement award. During that same speech, he additionally pledged to donate $1 million to Howard University in the near future. That donation has not yet been finalized.
Diddy attended Howard University as a business major for two years in the late 1980s before leaving the institution in 1990. Though he never graduated, Howard awarded Diddy an honorary degree in humanities in 2014 just before he gave the commencement speech.
Diddy continued to say that the inspiration behind these large donations to HBCUs came from his grandmother, who raised him and taught him to give back to his community.
What they’re doing at Jackson State is to be commended, what they’re doing at Howard University is to be commended,
he said. All HBCUs are under-resourced, and I’m here to do something about it.