LeBron James paving college scholarship path through his foundation
LeBron James and his foundation are making education a priority in the lives of 1,100 children.
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2 min read
While LeBron James did not attend college himself, he understands the importance of education. Which is why the mission of James' foundation, the LeBron James Family Foundation, "is to positively affect the lives of children and young adults through education and co-curricular educational initiatives."
One of the pillars of James' foundation is the "I Promise" program which according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst has 1,100 participants. The main goal of the "I Promise" program is to motivate children with the power of education and make them "promise" to finish school. Now thanks to a new partnership between James and the University of Akron, every "I Promise" participant is eligible for a four-year college scholarship to the school.
From Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:
On Thursday, James announced a partnership between his foundation, the university, and JPMorgan Chase in which any child under James' mentorship who graduates from Akron Public Schools and meets yet-to-be-determined testing, attendance, and community-service criteria would receive receive a free ride to the University of Akron.
The scholarships, paid for by the university, will cover tuition and Akron's general services fee -- currently worth about $9,500 a year.
"It means so much because, as a kid growing up in the inner city and a lot of African-American kids, you don't really think past high school," James later told reporters. "You don't really know your future. You hear high school all the time, and you graduate high school and then you never think past that because either it's not possible or your family's not financially stable to even be able to support a kid going to college."
The first class eligible for a University of Akron scholarship will graduate in the spring of 2021, and, according to the agreement, the scholarships will extend initially to the Akron Public Schools graduating class of 2029.
As Vardon notes, the program is still being refined but the importance of the partnership has already caused the University of Akron to rename their College of Education to honor James. The school will now be called the LeBron James Family Foundation College of Education. This is a tremendous honor for James however he isn't doing it for the publicity.
Growing up in Akron, James can empathize with almost all of the children his foundation works with. This is not just a kind gesture by James, he is motivated to make a difference in his hometown and knows that improving the city's graduation rates will do that.
