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Chris Paul: Selected by the President

Congrats, CP3!

Phoenix Suns v Golden State Warriors Photo by Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images

Add another feat to Chris Paul’s already impressive resume.

President Biden said on Thursday that he will appoint Paul, as well as actress Taraji P. Henson and multiple others, to the White House board of advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

As you know, the current Phoenix Suns point guard and future Hall of Famer recently ended his eight-year tenure as the President of the NBPA.

He was also given the 2016 ESPY’s “Humanitarian of the Year” award and the 2022 inaugural Kobe and Gigi Bryant Advocacy Award for his contributions to the advancement of girls’ and womens’ basketball.

Paul worked with Boost Mobile for the first HBCU Challenge in November, held at the Footprint Center.

He was also part of the push to get HBCU schools featured during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend.

Morgan State and Howard both played in the inaugural NBA HBCU Classic which was aired on national television.

Both schools received a $100,000 donation from the NBA and AT&T to support student-athletes continuing their education.

According to the White House, the goal of the Advisory Board is to advance the HBCU Initiative, started by the Jimmy Carter administration in 1980, and aims to increase the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest quality of education to its students and continue serving as engines of opportunity.

Chris has long been passionate about increasing funding and awareness for HBCUs.

The future NBA Hall of Fame point guard had an ongoing docuseries with ESPN called Why Not Us that highlights athletes at HBCUs while also showing the many struggles that they face.

He also co-created the Mischief for Change Scholarship, which partners with Sour Patch Kids to create a $1 million college scholarship for HBCU students over the next half-decade.

No, he didn’t go to an HBCU but he is currently enrolled at one as a student at Winston-Salem State in North Carolina.

“My appreciation comes from the history. For me, I was the only person in my family who didn’t attend an HBCU, and so as I got older, I just started to dig into a little bit more. I just want to make sure everyone understands that HBCUs are not less than, they’re very capable and important to our history, to our culture, to everything.”

Respect, Chris.

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