July 3rd 2023.
NBA legend and analyst Charles Barkley recently amended his will to leave his alma mater The University of Auburn a sum of 5 million dollars. According to Al.com's reporting, Barkley had been inspired to set the endowment aside for future Black students in light of the Supreme Court's ruling against Affirmative Action in higher education.
"I love Auburn," Barkley said. "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 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."
When Barkley originally created his will, he did consider making his donation exclusive to Black students but chose not to. The Supreme Court's decision seemed to have changed his mind. Barkley also discussed his alma mater's lack of diversity, noting that Auburn has always been in need of more. According to College Factual, which tracks and rates universities based on overall diversity, racial-ethnic diversity, and male-female diversity, Auburn is classified as below average in all three major categories. Of Auburn's estimated total enrollment of 30,737 students, an estimated 1,003 of those students are Black.
Barkley attended the University of Auburn from 1981-1984, a little over a decade after the original Affirmative Action policies were implemented. During that time, Black enrollment at Auburn was paltry. In 1982, which is the first year available during Barkley's time at the school, a grand total of 441 students were Black. Auburn's total enrollment that year was 18,000 students. By the time Barkley graduated in 1984, it had slightly increased to 586 Black students out of nearly 19,000 total students.
As it stands currently, Barkley's endowment is enough to almost completely cover the tuition costs of the entire Black student population. The University of Auburn has quite a bit of work to do if it wants to make good on Barkley's effort to create and sustain diversity in its student body. With his generous donation, it is clear that Barkley is committed to preserving and supporting diversity in higher education, and his hope is that others will follow suit.
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