Jay-Z's Roc Nation entertainment company is partnering with Brooklyn's Long Island University to launch the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment.
The school will begin enrolling students for the fall 2021 semester, and 25% of the incoming freshman class will receive Roc Nation Hope Scholarships. Hope Scholars will graduate without any debt.
Jay-Z, a 22-time Grammy winner and entertainment mogul, was born and raised in Brooklyn. He launched Roc Nation in 2008 and the company has worked with some of the top players in music, including Rihanna, Alicia Keys, DJ Khaled, J. Cole, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert and more.
Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez called the new partnership with LIU "a true investment in our community and young people."
The Roc Nation School will offer undergraduate degrees in music, music technology, entrepreneurship and production, and sports management. In addition to learning from professors, students will engage with guest artists and lecturers and will gain experience through internships.
Starting in spring 2021, the school also will launch summer residential camps for high schoolers and Saturday programs for students ages 10-18 that focus on music and sports management.
Dwayne Johnson buys XFL
Actor and former wrestling star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said he has acquired the XFL, reportedly for $15 million. The XFL had eight franchises and played five games before canceling the remainder of its season in March. The league filed for bankruptcy protection on April 13. Since ending his wrestling career, Johnson, 48, has became a movie star, including in the "Fast & Furious" and "Jumanji" franchises.
Book club: Oprah Winfrey announced Tuesday that she had chosen Isabel Wilkerson's exploration of race and hierarchy in the U.S., "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents," as her latest book club pick. Wilkerson's book, Winfrey said, "could change the way we see each other, how we see our humanity and the structure of our world." In "Caste," Wilkerson looks at American history and the treatment of Black people and finds what she calls an enduring, unseen and unmentioned caste system — not unlike those in India or Nazi Germany. "You cannot solve a problem unless you identify it and define it," Wilkerson said. Winfrey cited "Caste" in June, listing it along with Robin DiAngelo's "White Fragility" and Ibram X. Kendi's "How To Be An Antiracist" as essential reads on racism.
