Beyonce's HBCU-themed Coachella performance and she's awarding $100,000 in scholarships to HBCU students!
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Posted By: Reginald Culpepper on April 16, 2018 If you have not heard by now, this past weekend was an epic event for Coachella. In the history of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the event has never had a black female entertainer as a headline – until Saturday night when Beyonce headlined with a familiar HBCU-themed night. I happened to be surfing the internet at the time, somewhat worried about the Syrian airstrikes that President Trump had ordered, and came across a news article mentioning this fact and that it would be happening that night. It was like 1am in the morning and I thought surely I had missed it so I went to YouTube in hopes that of all the plagiarists and content stealers of the world, that I knew that someone had to have recorded and copied it under their own account to get views. Luckily, I realized that I was just in time due to the time difference. To be honest, I have never attended or seen a Beyonce concert (performances excluded) in full in my life so I was not expecting a lot, though I was expecting a little something. A little flair – a little dancing – singing – and a lot of cheering. As her part of Coachella started, I start to realize that this … this has a bit of an HBCU feel to it. After a few minutes I was convinced that her band was comprised of HBCU talent and/or choreography. Man, was I right. It seems as if Beyonce grabbed a marching band, a mixture of fraternities and sororities, and dance teams from our very own HBCUs. With over 150 musicians and performers sporting the BK logo with a pyramid in between the letter, this show grabbed my full attention the entire night (morning) and I found myself watching the entire event unfold before my eyes. It was quite impressive to me and I was actually proud of Beyonce for basically making what people are now calling “Beychella” into an HBCU-themed event. I mean, this rivaled, and in my opinion exceeded, her 2013 Super Bowl performance which garnered so much attention. Her sets included performing with her husband, Jay-Z; having a dance-off with her sister, Solange; and a reunion with the other members of Destiny’s Child, Michelle and Kelly. It was quite the sight. For two and a half hours I was stuck in my bed, watching Beyonce on my phone performing her hits that we have all heard on the radio many times and even performing other songs such as the black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and sing.” And of course, Beyonce was looking fabulous of course. All in all, it was worth the time and internet usage. I wish I was there to be honest – it looked like a good ‘ol time and I’m sure it was for many people from the near 200,000 tickets sold for this weekend. I wanted to send a thank you to Mrs. Carter for recognizing our HBCU existence and making great use of the talents and ideas created from these institutions. It was yet another night where I was proud to be an HBCU alumna. Now, I hear that she is now giving away scholarships to HBCU students at the HBCUs. Currently in its second year of existence, the BeyGOOD Initiative's Homecoming Scholars Award program (previously the Formation Scholars Award program) will be including a scholarship of $25,000 to one student from each of the following universities: Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida; Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama; Wilberforce University in Wilerforce, Ohio; and Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Louisiana. The associated disciplines will include literature, creative arts, African American studies, science, education, business, communications, social sciences, computer science and engineering. Applicants must maintain a 3.5 or better GPA. The four universities will select all finalists and winners, with recipients announced this summer. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Reginald Culpepper
President, Fulfillment and Web Services, HBCUCONNECT Clark Atlanta University class of 1998 Member Since September 2000 |
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