scholarship

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Student Promised College Scholarship In 2007 Now Being Told She Can’t Have It

The real-life "Scott's Tots."

South Florida student Ynette Lopez was promised a college scholarship in 2007 by the I Have a Dream Foundation, but now, as a high school senior in 2020, is being told the foundation will not be providing her with any money.

As reported by WSVN, and pointed out by Complex, Lopez was promised $3,000 per year for whichever four-year college or university she commits to by the I Have a Dream foundation, back when she was in kindergarten at Hibiscus Elementary School but has now been told she cannot have it because she "did not keep up with the program."

"Legally, this is really tricky, because the contract is not clear, and there is wiggle room for both sides," legal expert Howard Finkelstein told WSVN. "The foundation has a strong argument, because after Ynette moved, she did not go to any of their programs, and Zondra said she only contacted them every year or two. But favoring Ynette is that she got great grades, did volunteer work and became the kind of student the scholarship was created for."

The situation has gone viral on Twitter for being eerily similar to a plotline from The Office where Michael Scott has to renege on a scholarship he promised a group of children years earlier. 

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Ellen DeGeneres & Alicia Keys Present Teen Told To Cut Dreads With $20K Scholarship

Ellen DeGeneres & A. Keys come through for the vilified Texas teen.

Last week, a Texas teen by the name of DeAndre Arnold was told that he would not be able to participate in his high school graduation ceremony unless he cut off his locs. Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, claims that the teen's hair goes against the district's dress code and was placed under in-school suspension. Since then, Arnold and his mother Sandy, have addressed the school's oppressive practices and refused to deny the teen of representing his Trinidadian roots. 

After gaining the attention of national media outlets, DeAndre and his mother were invited as guests to The Ellen Show to discuss the Barbers Hill Independent School District's recently instated policy that has Arnold, an 'A' and 'B' student, disinvited to his own graduation ceremony. Ellen DeGeneres kicked off the conversation with the 18-year-old expressing her support of Arnold's decision to not comply with the demands of the Texas-based institution. 

DeAndre explained how his locs are currently relevant to his Trinidadian culture and how the school is attempting to force into alternative school for the remainder of his high school career. The bright teen also revealed that he wants to attend college in order to be a veterinarian. 

After revealing his frustration with the school and his post-graduation plans, Ellen pleaded into the camera for Arnold's school district to reconsider letting the student walk the graduation stage alongside his peers this spring. Then the Emmy Award-winning talk show host called upon Alicia Keys, who hosted the 2020 Grammys, to present DeAndre with a scholarship worth $20,000 for his upcoming collegiate endeavors. 

CNN reached out to the school's superintendent, Greg Poole, last week who stated:

"People want to call us racist, but we're following the rules, the law of the land. We're certainly not making this up," in defense of the school's dress code policy. 

With the oppression of black hairstyles being a common theme in society, hopefully, DeAndre Arnold and others continue to stand against the injustices brought up against alternative cultural lifestyles and aesthetics. 

Check out the DeAndre Arnold's full Ellen Show interview below and look out for Alicia Keys' new album, A.L.I.C.I.A (2020), to drop in the month of March.