STUDENT’s CALL FOR HBCU “Swag” Gets Overwhelming Family Support!

WILMINGTON, DE

Tony King (pictured below), is a 16-year-old student at Great Oaks Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware. As part of his school’s recent initiative to inspire young students to consider all possible post-graduation educational options, Great Oaks Charter School hosted a HBCU-themed Spirit Week for the students to get involved.

What started as a simple and fun call to cousins for “HBCU Swag” to help him participate and show school spirit, turned into overwhelming family support. 

“Much to our surprise, his cousins Ayanna Jackson and Tyler Johnson answered the call with a T-shirt for each day of the week,” said Natasha King, Tony’s mother. “His cousin Tyler sent a shirt from her alma mater, Alabama A&M University, as well as two other general HBCU shirts, and his cousin Ayanna sent two shirts for her alma mater, Virginia State University.”

Natasha originally shared the photos of Tony sporting the shirts on social media so his cousins could see him representing HBCUs, but the posts gained popularity among their family and friends … and even received a supportive comment from Dr. Makola M. Abdullah, the 14th president of Virginia State University. Great job to Tony for representing HBCU PRIDE!