Celebrity mogul Nick Cannon gave a generous gift to a Clark Atlanta University student last week.
On last Tuesday’s episode of the Nick Cannon Show, Cannon announced that he will pay off the student loan debt of Atlanta’s Jeydah Jenkins and several other students attending historically black colleges upon their graduation. The payments will be made through a scholarship in partnership with the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Cannon highlighted the importance of HBCUs in education, saying during the show that, “historically Black colleges and universities have played a pivotal role in developing some of the brightest minds and influencers of our time.”
The entertainer also discussed the fact that many students who attend HBCU’s struggle financially, and added that he wanted to focus on empowering those students to take charge of their futures.
Jenkins told Cannon during the show that she had created her own business selling “authentic Dominican empanadas” to help afford school. Her company, Jeypanadas, makes savory pastries using her late grandmother’s recipe.
Cannon told Jenkins and the other students that he was, “so moved by all of your stories and the obstacles that you’ve overcome that I’ve got to help out. Our show has partnered with some of the biggest national scholarship providers, such as the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, to grant each of you a scholarship to cover your outstanding education loan balances. Once you earn your college degree, we’re wiping out your student debt—every single penny.”
Cannon’s generous gift comes just a year after he earned his own degree from HBCU Howard University with a major in Criminology/Administration of Justice and a minor in Africana Studies, BET reported.
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