Charles Barkley has long supported his home state of Alabama and his alma mater, Auburn University. After the recent decision by the Supreme Court to gut Affirmative Action, he did so again.
Upon hearing the Court’s decision, Barkley changed his will and left $5 million for Black students at Auburn.
“In my will, I am leaving Auburn $5 million,” Barkley said after last week’s ruling. “I’m going to change it to be just for scholarships for Black students. That’s just my way of trying to make sure Auburn stays diverse.”
The Supreme Court ruled that race can no longer be used in college admissions, which will most likely lead to a decline in enrollment of Black and Brown students at colleges and universities across the country.
That’s already a reality in nine states (Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington) that had previously banned Affirmative Action. Black undergraduate enrollment at the University of Michigan, for example, declined from 7% in 2006 to 4% in 2021.
While Barkley can’t change the ruling, he’s doing something to personally help Black students at his beloved alma mater.
“We’ve always lacked diversity,” Barkley said. “I’m doing my part to make sure we are more diverse.”
Barkley’s assertion is correct based on Auburn’s enrollment demographics.
In 2020, there were 30,737 total students, undergraduate and graduate, enrolled at the university. White students accounted for 23,805 (77.4%), Black 1,624 (5.38%) and Hispanic/Latino 1,113 (2.45%). However, in 2022, the number of Black students dipped to 1,560 (4.91%) while white students increased to 25,007 (78.7%).
After the Court’s decision, the downward trend of these numbers for Black student enrollment is likely to continue. Barkley saw the ruling as a “shot across the bow,” which is why he changed his will.
“I love Auburn. I’ve actually changed it to be used for kids from poor homes. But after that ruling yesterday, my phone was blowing up. I was talking to my friends and said, ‘I need to make sure Black folks always have a place at Auburn.’ So I’m gonna change my will and make it exclusively for Black students – all $5 million. It’s just for me the right thing to do.”
Now let’s see if other wealthy Black celebrities and athletes join Barkley.
