NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is donating $1 million to help a private, historically black college in Alabama.
The former Auburn University standout, who starred for 16 seasons in the NBA, told Miles College Interim President Bobbie Knight in a telephone call Wednesday, AL.com reported.
“I’ve gotten to know Bobbie over the last year and it was something I really wanted to do,” Barkley told the website. “To have a female president is a big deal. I want to help Bobbie be as successful as she can be.”
Barkley donated $1 million each to two historically black colleges: Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta in 2016, WBRC reported. In 2017, he pledged $1 million to Morehouse College in Atlanta, AL.com reported.
Knight said the donation will launch a campaign to raise $100 million for the college, the website reported.
“What Barkley has done helps lay the foundation for the campaign,” she said. “I don’t think he realizes what he has done.”
Barkley, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame of 2006, said he hoped the donation to Miles College will go toward academic scholarships, but there were no strings attached.
“They can do what they want to do with it,” Barkley told AL.com.
Source: KIRO 7
