In less than 24 hours the Donda Academy closed and reopened for business. This is just another complicated repercussion of the world’s takedown of Kanye West after the anti-semitic comments he made recently.
Ye has been getting canceled left and right by multiple companies, partnerships, and athletes. To this date, the only person who’s been standing by Kanye West’s side is former NFL player Antonio Brown, who recently said he’d continue in his role as president of Donda Sports.
But regardless of Donda Sports, which has lost some of its most notable athletes, West’s non-accredited private school, Donda Academy, announced that it would be shut down earlier this week.
The principal of the California located private school Jason Angell sent out an email detailing that the school was ordered to be closed down at the “discretion of our founder.”
While this came out of nowhere, in the middle of the school year, it was assumed that the students enrolled in the academy would have to relocate to their nearest school to continue their education. Angell said that the school was expected to be back up and running by September 2023.
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“Our leadership team will be working diligently to assist all families during this transition, ensuring that every scholar has what they need to succeed in their next community in a prompt and gracious manner,” Angell wrote. “We intend to begin afresh in September of 2023.”
This would’ve been an abrupt change for many families and children, except the hiatus reportedly only lasted for a few hours, before Donda Academy issued a statement saying it would open back up.
“Join us tomorrow morning in worship for the return of Donda Academy. With the help of our parents and community, we are back and returning with a vengeance!”
Kanye West’s students are very fortunate that his school gets to stay open, because a lot of his other brands and businesses have lost collaborators and partners because of his comments.
People might have problems with Kanye’s controversial messages about Jewish businessmen that he plays high-stakes brand building with, but the students at Donda Academy shouldn’t have their dreams snuffed out by the turn of events. It’s already hard enough for Black kids in America to receive elevated educational opportunities. Anger towards Kanye shouldn’t affect those kids at all.
During the period when many thought that West’s school was shutting down, some concern went to the students, and more specifically the student-athletes. During the school’s momentary stoppage, Jaylen Brown, who recently departed from Donda Sports, took it upon himself to continue to support Donda Sports by supporting their young athletes by issuing a statement.
“I do seek to continue providing mentorship, love, and support to the incredible children, faculty, and young athletes with whom I’ve been grateful to form bonds and relationships with during my time with Donda Academy.”
But to top it all off, Jaylen Brown took to Twitter to say that he would be sponsoring Donda basketball events to allow these students to keep their athletic eligibility and their careers going.
“To any HS basketball coaches & event coordinators, These student-athletes can’t be negatively impacted by this. I will sponsor any event existing or new, willing to host Donda Academy. We all must ensure they complete their senior yr both academically & athletically. Contact me.”
For the small frame of time that it looked gloomy for Donda Sports, Brown stepped up to still support these kids, even after he stopped supporting Kanye West. That is the difference between leadership and clout chasing.
