George Lynch and HBCUHeroes Raising Money to Help HBCU Student-Athletes in Need

Former Tar Heel, George Lynch, is working to raise funds for student-athletes of HBCUS to provide laptops and computers for online learning.

George Lynch is no stranger to athletics. Hailing from Roanoake, Va, Lynch was a high school standout and named Mr. Virginia Basketball in 1989. Soon after, he caught the attention of Carolina coach, Dean Smith, and committed to UNC. Lynch became First-team All-ACC and an NCAA Champion in 1993 after defeating Michigan and the infamous Fab 5. In his professional career, Lynch had landing spots in LA, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and New Orleans. And staying true to the Carolina connection, after retiring from the NBA in 2005, Lynch worked alongside Larry Brown and Matt Doherty farthing his education in coaching.

But Lynch's work is far beyond the court, he is now working with a non-profit he co-founded, HBCUHeroes. Alongside Tracey Pennywell, HBCUHeroes mission is to raise funding to level the playing field for HBCU sports programs by assisting with scholarships and resources to meet their athletic objectives.

HBCU's stand for Historically Black Colleges/Universities. There are currently 107 HBCUs in the US; 12 of those reside in North Carolina. The disparities between PWI (predominately white institutions) and HBCUs display the massive gap in the institutions, specifically monetarily. An article written by Jemele Hill, highlights that,

"Black athletes have attracted money and attention to the predominantly white universities that showcase them. Meanwhile, black colleges are struggling. Alabama's athletic department generated $174 million in the 2016–17 school year, whereas the HBCU that generated the most money from athletics that year, Prairie View A&M, brought in less than $18 million. Beyond sports, the average HBCU endowment is only one-eighth that of the average predominantly white school; taken together, all of the HBCU endowments combined make up less than a tenth of Harvard's."

In steps George Lynch.

During a recent appearance on HBCUGameday, Lynch and Pennywell spoke of their mission to help student-athletes of HBCUs by providing them with the tools they need during the global pandemic of COVID-19. The pair are looking to bring awareness to the lack of resources most student-athletes have in addition to helping them succeed outside the classroom.

Lynch: Although with the coronavirus attention going to the first responders and all the hospitals and the lack of needs that they're dealing with, we have a lot of HBCU student-athletes who have to go out learn distance learning. A lot of people may not know, and it's not talked about a lot, but some student-athletes who go to HBCUs are first-generation students; Some are qualified for the Pell grant and assistance. What we're wanting to do is talk to HBCUs throughout the country and provide student-athletes, men and women, with laptops and computers for their distance learning challenges since the virus.

Pennywell: George and I have been talking to professors who are at HBCUs, and only 1/3 of HBCUs, prior to this, had online distance degree programs, and some had courses, but only 30 of them did. You're talking about 2/3 of HBCUs who then had to take all of their learning online. That trickles down to students and including those student-athletes who don't have computers. The reason George and I are so enthralled in helping the student-athletes is because we realize that if student-athletes can't keep up because they don't have computers, it's going to affect their eligibility. It's going to affect a lot of of things when they come back, and we don't want them to fail a class because of a computer issue. That's really important.

Lynch: The challenges are there, and I know at least for the student-athletes coming up on my side, if I had an excuse not to do my work, that wasn't good enough. So we don't want to give any of those student-athletes any distractions or complaints because they didn't have a laptop or a learning device to continue their education. And we don't want them to feel like their university isn't supporting them. The professors want to do their job, and we want to help both sides out.

They are accepting devices, new and gently used, along with monetary donations. The organization is a non-profit so that they can receive discounts from most technology companies. If you would like to donate, monetarily or provide a laptop, please visit their foundation at HBCUHeroes.org.

No one knows how long coronavirus will last or the continued impact it will have on students. HBCUHeores are preparing to help students beyond a semester; they're committed to ensuring HBCU student-athletes have every advantage possible for success.