The NAACP partnered with Warner Bros. Television Group to create a scholarship inspired by The CW series All American: Homecoming.
The Grand Slam Scholarship was announced at a panel hosted by the African American Film Critics Association and will grant $10,000 to ten students attending various HBCUs.
This initiative marks the Studio’s first time collaborating with the NAACP to offer scholarships to HBCU students.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said: “The partnership with Warner Bros. Television Group is an excellent illustration of how corporations can give back and do their part for a more equitable society. We know these scholarships will be an invaluable resource to HBCU students interested in careers in entertainment. We look forward to continuing this type of collaboration on future endeavors.”
Airing on Mondays, All American: Homecoming is a spinoff of the widely popular CW series All American. In the new show, Simone (Geffri Maya), a series regular on the original, goes to the fictional HBCU Bringston Univerisity where she aspires to take her tennis career to the next level.
Along with Maya, Cory Hardrict reprises his character Marcus Turner in the spin-off. Marcus finds himself stepping up as head coach of Bringston’s baseball team. Kelly Jenrette also returns as Simone’s aunt and journalism professor Amara Patterson.
Peyton Alex Smith plays the new character Damon Sims, a would-be professional baseball player who turned down a shot at the MLB to bring Bringston’s team back to prominence.
All American Homecoming follows both the familiar and new characters after Amara exposes a scandal that threatens to derail the school’s baseball program. Simone adjusts to the high stakes of college sports while also attempting to live her best life at the cusp of adulthood.
Though Bringston is a fictional university in the All American universe, executive producer/showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll was inspired by the experiences of her friends and family who attended HBCUs.
Carroll described the series as “a celebration of the HBCU experience, a celebration of Black youth, a celebration of our culture.” The Grand Slam Scholarship is a natural extension of the ethos of the show, a way to further uplift and amplify the next generation of Black voices.
Any student pursuing a degree at an HBCU can apply for the scholarship in early March. For more information, visit the NAACP’s website.
All American: Homecoming is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, David Madden, and Robbie Rogers are also executive producers.
