Chadwick Boseman's old high school to set up scholarship in his honor

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 9/2/2020, 1:06 p.m.
Chadwick Boseman's South Carolina high school has revealed plans to honor the late actor with a scholarship fund in his …
Chadwick Boseman's South Carolina high school has revealed plans to honor the late actor with a scholarship fund in his name./Credit: Getty/Marvel Studios/Chestnut Ridge Prod./Legendary Pictures Prod./Universal Pictures

By Toyin Owoseje, CNN

(CNN) -- Chadwick Boseman's South Carolina high school has revealed plans to honor the late actor with a scholarship fund in his name.

Principal Walter Mayfield at T. L. Hanna High School confirmed on Wednesday that it is in the process of setting up a grant called the Chadwick Boseman Memorial Scholarship, which will be awarded to one deserving student each year.

"It is our intention to honor the memory and legacy of Chadwick Boseman, T. L. Hanna Class of '95, with a memorial scholarship," Mayfield said in a statement to CNN.

"We would like to work with Chadwick's family to establish a scholarship fund for graduating seniors at T. L. Hanna."

Boseman -- who died of colon cancer last month, after battling the disease privately for four years -- graduated from T. L. Hanna High School in 1995. He was 43 when he died.

The Hollywood star -- best known for his leading roles in "Black Panther," as well as "42," "Marshall" and "Get On Up" -- went on to study directing at Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, DC.

While there, he also attended the British American Drama Academy at Oxford in 1998.

Benefactors to the new scholarship can send a check to the school or make an online donation.

According to the donation page, the Chadwick Boseman Memorial Scholarship is still in the early stages, and details of how it will be awarded "are still being worked out."

Meanwhile, 35,000 people and counting have signed an online petition calling for the Anderson Confederate Memorial in Anderson, South Carolina -- where Boseman is from -- to be replaced with a statue of the screen star.

"He opened many doors for many young black people with his leading roles in movies such as Black Panther or Marshall," the petition reads. "It is only natural that his hometown honors what he did. There is no need for political controversy in this decision."