Charles Barkley responds to Supreme Court ruling by making $5m change to will
NBA legend Charles Barkley is changing his will to donate a whopping $5 million (£3.9m) to Auburn University, after the United States Supreme Court's recent decision to outlaw affirmative action in college admissions.
Barkley was not pleased with the court's ruling on Thursday, stating that it was a 'shot across the bow' and that he wanted to do something to help black athletes continue to study at his Alma Mater.
And just days after the ruling, Barkley granted the university a huge sum of money, with his effort being to ensure diversity remains at the prestigious school.
Barkley said: "That’s just my way of trying to make sure Auburn stays diverse. 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.
"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.
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"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 exclusive for Black students — all $5 million.’ It’s just for me the right thing to do. I always want to make sure that Auburn’s diverse.”
Barkley studied at Auburn under a basketball scholarship, where he became one of the school's best ever athletes, going on to be drafted in 1984 - two picks after Michael Jordan. Auburn's data shows that the number of black students enrolled had dropped in recent years - now being under 5 per cent for the first time in decades.
The court's ruling has effectively changed the way universities will consider race as one of the factors when considering their application to study at the schools.
Affirmative action programmes have aided disadvantaged minority families since in the 1960's in the United States - being introduced during the Civil Rights Movement - having been created to lessen discrimination.
Barkley has been generous with his personal funds throughout his post-career in the league, discussing in December how important it it to him to give back.
He told Bleacher Report : "I sit there, sometimes like when I go back to my hometown, I drive by the projects where I built my mom and grandmother a house and I think about like 'Man look at all the things you've accomplished in your life,' you know?
"I go by my high school and I make sure my teams look good. You know, stuff like that means a great deal to me. Yeah because I wanna keep trying to do some good stuff away from the court because number one I've been blessed to make a ton of money.
"And one of my goals has been, and I've done for the last, I think 13 years, to give a million dollars a year away to charity so I started obviously with my high school, my college and another school at Alabama."
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