Travis Scott is continuing to give back to students who attend historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
The “Sicko Mode” rapper announced the launching of the Cactus Jack Foundation on Houston’s third annual “Travis Scott Day” (Nov. 18). The foundation’s first major initiative will be the assembling of the Waymon Webster Scholarship program — which is named after Scott’s grandfather who attended an HBCU.
“Waymon Webster was a Dean of the Prairie View A&M graduate school,” the Houston native said in a press release. “My grandfather wanted me to take it all the way through college. I feel there is a power in education, so to be able to give someone the opportunity to fulfill that dream as my papa thought for me is amazing.”
Through the program, several HBCU students will have their tuition expenses covered for the 2020-2021 school year. All first round recipients, will be hand-selected by Scott and will have to be currently enrolled at Prairie View A&M University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Texas Southern University and Grambling State University.
Scott’s foundation will also partner with the city of Houston and New School’s Parsons School of Design to offer a fashion design program. “Parsons is proud to partner with Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Foundation to bring fashion education to high school students who have traditionally been underrepresented in creative disciplines,” said Rachel Schreiber, executive dean of Parsons. “Parsons and Travis Scott share a deep commitment to educating young designers who are just beginning their exploration of fashion and design. We are excited to collaborate with the Cactus Jack Foundation to offer this immersive course led by Parsons award-winning faculty.”
Back in October, the Astroworld emcee offered to pay a semester’s tuition for five HBCU students on Twitter. “AND I KNOW SCHOOL JUST STARTED AND I WANNA TAKE CARE OF 5 KIDS TUITION FOR THEIR FIRST SEMESTER OF SCHOOL!!! WHY NOT!!!!!” he tweeted. He then clarified his tweet by saying he wanted to award students who attended HBCUs. “5 KIDS THAT ATTEND A HBCU,” he tweeted. “Send me ur schools ya heard!!!”
Scott then revealed that his parents attended HBCUs. He said that his father went to Grambling State University in Louisiana, while his mother attended Prairie View A&M University in Texas.