• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • The State Of R&B
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · News

Denzel Washington Family Foundation Commits $1 Million to Support HBCU in Texas

Funds will benefit Wiley College debate team, depicted in film “The Great Debaters”
Denzel Washington Family Foundation Commits $1 Million to Support HBCU in Texas
Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for WarnerMedia
By Donna M. Owens · Updated July 29, 2021

Denzel Washington’s groundbreaking roles have led to Academy Award, Tony, and Golden Globe wins. Now the acclaimed actor and his family are winning praise from a Texas HBCU for a generous gift. 

Washington, who’s married to actress/singer Pauletta Washington and has four adult offspring, recently announced the Denzel Washington Family Foundation has made the fourth $100,000 installment toward a $1 million commitment to Wiley College.

Founded in 1873, the historically Black college in Marshall, Texas is home of `The Great Debaters’—a team popularized in a 2007 film of the same name. Washington directed the movie and starred as Professor Melvin B. Tolson, a pioneering debate coach who organized the team in the 1920s and led students to a decade-long winning streak in the 1930s. He facilitated interracial collegiate debates during the segregated Jim Crow era that drew large crowds.

“Supporting the next generation of brilliant minds in the art of debate at Wiley College will open so many doors of opportunity for these students during college, career, and beyond,” said Denzel Washington in a statement provided to ESSENCE. “We are honored to continue supporting the best and the brightest in the land and look forward to `The Great Debaters’ continuing to do what they do best: win.”

Located about 150 miles outside Dallas, Wiley College is named in honor of Bishop Isaac William Wiley, a minister, medical missionary and educator.  The four-year, co-ed institution is affiliated with The United Methodist Church and educates students in a Christian environment. The UNCF member school has a student-body of about 800 people, most of whom are first-generation scholars. There’s an intentional focus on social good and leadership, touted in Wiley’s motto: “Go Forth Inspired.”

Washington has inspired not only as a two-time Oscar winner (The New York Times named him one of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st Century) and box-office giant, but as a philanthropist. The longtime spokesman for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America established the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theatre with a $2 million gift to his alma mater, Fordham University, in 2011. He and his wife have also given scholarships to train medical students. 

The Wiley donation will be used to recruit debate team members and provide them with scholarships. After an initial $1 million commitment in 2007, Washington’s family foundation has donated $100,000 annually over 10 years to revive the debate team, which dissolved after Tolson departed Wiley back in 1947. 

Their financial largesse continued in 2018, and Washington visited the campus that same year to watch a debate competition. The nationally renowned debate team is now formally called the Melvin B. Tolson/Denzel Washington Forensics Society. 

Wiley College president Dr. Herman J. Felton, Jr. expressed gratitude for Washington’s generosity to the institution. The relationship has spanned 15 years and counting. 

“Being a dominant force as home of `The Great Debaters’ makes us a very attractive option for those skilled in debate, and this financial support further amplifies the benefits of becoming a Wiley debate scholar,” he said in a statement. 

While they took a hiatus from competing due to the pandemic, the team of 30 will resume competition this fall under the leadership of coach Caleb Williams. The Great Debaters have consistently won national competitions, including the prestigious Pi Kappa Delta national championships in 2014 and 2016. 

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now