27 August 2023 , 00:23
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Sean "Diddy" Combs is set to present Jackson State University with a substantial £794,000 ($1m) cheque for their football programme. This presentation will occur in Atlanta during the NCAA opening weekend of college football game between Jackson State University and South Carolina State.
“We'll have a special guest at this game that's going to make a special contribution," MEAC/SWAC Challenge executive director John Grant said. "[Diddy] will be on-site at this year's Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge to present that £794,000 ($1million) check to Jackson State football."
"He will be there … will be there to enjoy the game. He will be speaking with the team before, and you may see him run out with the team as an honorary captain for this year's kickoff.”
During the 2022 BET Awards, the 53-year-old music mogul committed to donate £794,000 ($1milion) each to his alma mater, Howard University, and Jackson State University. He announced this generous pledge as he accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award at the event.
“Before I leave, I want to donate £794 ($1m) to Howard University,” said Diddy during the speech. “Also, I’m going to drop another million dollars on Deion Sanders and Jackson State because we should play for us.” Combs initially attended Howard University but left during his sophomore year to pursue an internship with Uptown Records. However, he was later awarded an honorary doctorate in 2014.
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Diddy initially committed to Jackson State while NFL legend Deion Sanders was the football program's head coach. The Hall of Fame cornerback led Jackson State from 2020 to 2022.
The Bad Boy Records founder was assumed to wait to follow through on his promise after the departure of Sanders from the school. However, Combs has followed through on his promise even though Sanders has moved on to a Power 5 job with the Colorado Buffaloes currently in the Pac 12 Conference.
Former Jackson State Tigers coach Deion Sanders walks along the fieldJackson State University president Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony officially confirmed Diddy's contributions during a monthly meeting of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning board of trustees on June 15.
“P Diddy, as our students call him, and as we probably know him as Sean Combs, has released $1 million to Jackson State for athletics,” Hayes-Anthony said. “And we are very, very pleased about that. We will be receiving $332,000 by June 23 as a first installment, and we get another installment in 2024 and another in 2025.”
The Grammy Award winner has a deep history of philanthropy. Last Thanksgiving, Diddy, his family, and rapper Yung Miami fed approximately 3,000 people living in Miami's homeless community through The Caring Place Foundation, which aims to help people without housing in Miami and Broward County. They also provided haircuts medical care, and distributed clothes and hygiene products.
In 2016, the rap icon inaugurated the Capital Preparatory Schools in the Harlem section of New York City, his hometown. The school caters to more than 160 students in grades 6 and 7, with plans to include an additional grade each year until it reaches its maximum capacity of accommodating 700 students.