Charles Barkley Donates $1 Million to Atlanta's Spelman College

NBA great Charles Barkley is donating $1 million to Spelman College in Atlanta.

It's reportedly the sixth million-dollar donation the former Auburn star has made to a historically Black college or university (HBCU).

Barkley told AL.com that he was inspired to contribute to Spelman after seeing the impact it's having on Jordyn Hudson, the daughter of his friend and business partner John Hudson. Jordyn, a rising sophomore, will serve as class president when she returns to Spelman in the fall.

"John has been a great mentor, a great friend, and a great business partner," Barkley explained. "I was ready to do another HBCU and with his daughter doing great things at Spelman, so I told him, 'Why not there?'"

The Alabama native has already donated $1 million each to Alabama A&M, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Miles College, and Tuskegee University.

But it's not just higher education Barkley feels strongly about. In 2021 he gave $1,000 to every public school employee in his hometown of Leeds City, where he also arranged for students to receive 200 computers and free Internet service for a year.

"People are aware of Charles from TNT and his NBA stardom, but I don't think people are aware of how focused he is on philanthropy and entrepreneurism," John Hudson told AL.com. "He knows how committed Jordyn is to Spelman and has seen how it has transformed her worldview."

Now that's what we call a role model.