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10 GRAMBLING STATE STUDENTS NAMED BEYGOOD SCHOLARS
"After I obtain my bachelor’s degree at Grambling State University, I plan to further my education and enroll in law school to become a criminal defense attorney."
Sha’Cyla Allen, Forrest City, Arkansas
Ten Grambling State University students were announced as recipients of $10,000 scholarships from the BeyGood Foundation, founded by famous artist Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.
The singer, songwriter, and businesswoman best known by her first name — Beyoncé — is currently in the midst of her “Renaissance tour” and announced earlier this summer that she had committed to donating $1 million to higher education efforts through her BeyGood foundation’s Renaissance Scholars program.
That program presented 100 students from 10 different schools with a $10,000 scholarship.
GRAMBLING UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION LAUNCHES $1M ENDOWMENT SCHOLARSHIP CAMPAIGN IN MEMORY OF WILLIS REED TO BENEFIT STUDENT-ATHLETES
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Willis Reed, a Grambling State University graduate, and Grambling Sports Legends Hall of Famer, was always a champion for his alma mater, praising the time he spent at the college and the education it provided him.
After leading was what then known as Grambling College to its only men’s basketball national championship ever — a 1961 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics title over Georgetown of Kentucky — Reed went on to become a standout for the NBA’s Knicks, becoming a seven-time NBA All-Star while leading New York to league championships in 1970 and 1973.
During his playing career, and later as a college head coach (Creighton University) as well as head coach of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, where he later served as vice president of basketball and business development, and as vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Hornets, Reed continued offering his support to GSU at every opportunity.
On September 1st, the late Reed, who passed away on March 31 of this year, once again served as a champion for his alma mater as the establishment of a $1 million endowed scholarship to benefit student-athletes was launched at the Liberty Room of the Liberty House in Jersey City, New Jersey. The event was part of pre-game festivities for the Brick City Classic that pitted the GSU Tigers against Hampton at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
GSU Grambling State President Rick Gallot and Executive Director of the Grambling University Foundation Brandon Logan were on hand for the celebration, as was Reed’s widow Gale Kennedy Reed and Grambling University Foundation Board Member Dr. David Jefferson, Sr., who served as emcee for the celebration.
U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, who served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey from 1979 to 1997 and ran for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in the 2000 election, losing to Vice President Al Gore, was a teammate of Reed’s on those early 1970s Knicks teams and was on hand Friday for the celebration recognizing the scholarship honoring his former teammate.
“He was the soul of the team in the very real sense of the word,” Bradley said of Reed’s role on those championship Knicks teams. “And you know, there’s a great difference between a star and a champion. New York’s had a lot of stars. But only a few have been champions.”
“We weren’t the best players in the league, but we were the best team. And for a few years, we were the best team in the world. We exemplified selflessness, discipline, and imagination. I remember the fifth game of the 1970s Finals against the Lakers. Willis goes down with a torn abductor muscle. He was our star, our center, our ‘Captain’ (as his Knicks teammates referred to Reed), and our leader. He displayed all of our values and was a big chunk of the team.”
While Reed didn’t return to the floor for the second half of the 1970 Game 5 Finals contest, his Knicks teammates continued playing with that championship spirit Reed first learned as a Grambling student-athlete.
The annual Clayton A. Wiley Engineering High School Day, hosted by Grambling State University’s Department of Engineering Technology, brought 106 students to campus for hands-on challenges in Bridge Building, Drone Flying, Computer Technology, Electrical Circuits, and Mechanical Puzzles—an inspiring opportunity to spark interest in engineering and connect future Tigers with the field.
