Beyonce, patron saint of our generation, has taken her sainthood to new heights.
After absolutely destroying the Coachella stage over the weekend, and revamping the idea of what is expected of a festival performance, Beyonce has gone and proven her earth-bound goddess status yet again.
In the aforementioned performance, Beyonce opened up with a full scale marching band as an homage to the halftime performances from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). They wore costumes of collegiate wear, including Greek letters sparkling across their chests. It's clear that she values the tradition, but now it's also clear that she values the education of the students carrying on that tradition just as much.
Variety reports the "Formation" singer announced through her BeyGOOD foundation that she will be awarding four HBCU schools $100,000 in scholarships. The four schools being granted the newly established Homecoming Scholars Award Program for this fall's enrollment are Xavier, Wilberforce, Tuskegee and Bethune-Cookman. One winner from each of these will receive $25,000 for use during the 2018-2019 academic year.
All of these colleges are Historically Black Colleges and Universities—institutions that were created pre-Civil Rights Act of 1964 that allowed African-American students to attend college without the threat of anti-integrationists.
"The show, with its homage to excellence in education, was a celebration of the homecoming weekend experience, the highest display of college pride," a release from BeyGOOD noted. "The energy-filled production put the spotlight on art and culture, mixing the ancient and the modern, which resonated masterfully through the marching band, performance art, choir and dance. It was the impetus to mark her second scholarship program.”
This isn't the first time Beyonce has set up a scholarship program. Last year, the singer announced the Formation Scholars Awards Program on the one year anniversary of Lemonade's release. That scholarship was set up to encourage and inspire "young women who are bold, creative, conscious, confident and unafraid to think outside of the box."
