A petition has been launch to award a degree and a scholarship fund to Draylen Mason, the 17-year-old musician who was killed in the series of package bombs that terrorized Austin, Texas last month.
Mason was accepted into the class of 2022 at the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music before his death. A change.org petition has been created by an alumnus, asking the school to honor Mason with a posthumous degree. Over 23,000 people have signed it.
“As a proud Oberlin Conservatory alumnus, and person of color in the arts industry, I call on the Oberlin Conservatory of Music to recognize Draylen Mason and his family’s struggle by awarding him a Posthumous Bachelor of Music Degree,” writes Joshua Blue in the petition.
He added: “But most importantly, I challenge them to set up a fully-funded scholarship in his name (with the permission of his family) for people of color to attend the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, continuing our institution’s role in changing the status quo around race in our profession, and our country.”
Mason was killed on March 12 after picking up a package bomb. The city of Austin was on edge for days as a series of bombs killed two and injured four people, including Mason’s mother.
He was a senior at East Austin College Prep and was heavily involved in music. He was the principal bassist in the Austin Youth Orchestra and in Austin Soundwaves, another local music program. He had also been accepted into the University of Texas Butler School of Music.
Mark Conditt, the bomber, was killed after a bomb detonated inside his car as officers closed in to arrest him last month.
