Since his $70 Million donation to USC went public, some folks have questioned why Dr. Dre didn’t make a donation to a struggling HBCU.  Speak On It inside…

In a previous post, we told you about music mogul Dr. Dre teaming with Jimmy Iovine to donate $70 Million dollars to the University of Southern California to create the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. And we praised him for doing so.  But not everyone is happy about it.

In an Op-Ed for the LA Times, Walter M. Kimbrough, the President of Dillard University was particularly vocal and questioned if Dr. Dre could have or should have made a donation to an HBCU. He wrote,

"What if Dre had given $35 million — his half of the USC gift and about 10% of his wealth, according to a Forbes estimate — to an institution that enrolls the very people who supported his career from the beginning? An institution where the majority of students are low-income? A place where $35 million would represent a truly transformational gift? Why didn’t Dr. Dre give it to a black college?"

He added,

"In 2011, the National Science Foundation noted that black colleges are a major source of scientists and engineers. In fact, the top five producers of blacks who go on to earn science, technology, engineering and math graduate degrees are black colleges, as are 20 of the top 50. Once you add in the musical legacy of black colleges’ choirs and marching bands, they are the perfect locations for an academy like this.

In the end, though, this is his money, and endowing a program geographically nearby, where he can have ongoing input and contact, makes sense. I do hope it will recruit and enroll a diverse class of students and not become some enclave for the already privileged student body there."

What do you think of Dr. Kimbrough’s statement? Would Dr. Dre’s donation have been better suited for an HBCU in need?  Or is education simply education, esp. since plenty of kids everywhere support and like hip hop.

SPEAK ON IT!
 

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Original Post Source – http://www.theybf.com/