The Coby White Family Foundation launches scholarships to support Black and Brown students in North Carolina while honoring family impact and generational change<\/p>\n
CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 The Coby White Family Foundation is expanding its commitment to community impact with the launch of a new scholarship program designed to support Black and Brown students pursuing higher education across North Carolina.<\/p>\n
The initiative will award two $10,000 scholarships annually to incoming college freshmen at East Carolina University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, North Carolina Central University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The foundation hopes to highlight those students from underrepresented and under-resourced communities. The two scholarships are the Donald Legacy Scholarship, in honor of their late father, which recognizes a young Black or Brown male seeking to leave a lasting impact, and the Lanell and Valerie Empowerment Scholarship, which honors a female student working to overcome adversity and uplift others.<\/p>\n
For Coby White, the program is about creating access to opportunities he knows many never receive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to give a chance, especially to the Black and Brown community, underprivileged communities,\u201d White said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough in those communities that I grew up in. I just wanted to give them equal opportunity and a chance to go to college and pursue their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CWFF scholarship selection process focuses on personal storytelling and alignment with the foundation\u2019s core values, rather than GPA requirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve been accepted to the college, you\u2019ve already done the hard work,\u201d Tia White said. \u201cThere\u2019s a short essay required, and recipients will be determined based on what aligns most with CWFF and who we want to bet on for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
For both siblings, the emphasis on reducing financial stress is critical, particularly for students navigating college without generational support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember what it was like trying to make sure I could pay for college,\u201d Tia White said. \u201cMy parents were not financially stable in that way, and I had to take out loans. If we can take that stress off students, the impact will go far beyond just the scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n
White echoed that perspective, reflecting on how his upbringing in Goldsboro shaped his understanding of opportunity gaps.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust me growing up in Goldsboro, seeing my peers and what they had to go through, home life, environments, poverty, I just want to give them a chance to experience college,\u201d he said. \u201cMy parents didn\u2019t graduate from college, so my sister was the first in our family. I want to give kids that same opportunity to be first.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Coby, being in a position to create that kind of impact still feels surreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t have dreamed of this growing up. It almost seems impossible,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you would have asked 15 or 16-year-old me if I\u2019d be in the NBA, playing in my home state and having the chance to change lives, I would have looked at you crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n