Beyoncé Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Beyoncé is giving back to her hometown.
The Houston, Texas native’s BeyGOOD Foundation will donate $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center in an effort to help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic.
UH Law Center dean Leonard Baynes said in a press release on Wednesday, December 11 that the clinic will offer pro bono legal services in the Houston community and “supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”
The donation will allow the clinic to have a full-time faculty and director, and open the program to more students.
FilmMagic; Getty Images; FilmMagic Jay-Z has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 with Sean “Diddy” Combs, but his wife, Beyoncé, and her family are standing by him. “Beyoncé doesn’t tolerate anyone saying anything bad about Jay to her. She’s standing by him now. She’s upset that this is happening, but she believes […]
“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper’, as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”
Beyoncé, 43, launched BeyGOOD in 2013. The organization works to support “nonprofits that serve marginalized and under-resourced communities” by providing resources and opportunities to help drive sustainable equity, according to its website.
“Our students will be able to benefit from practical, real-world experience and impart their expertise to members of our community who are in need of their services,” added Eloise Brice, Houston’s vice president for advancement and alumni.
Beyoncé’s gift comes just days after news broke of a civil lawsuit in which an anonymous plaintiff accused her husband, rapper Jay-Z, of rape in 2000, when the plaintiff was only 13.
Jay-Z has made his first public appearance after being accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in the early 2000s. The rapper, 55, stepped out alongside his wife, Beyoncé, the couple’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter and his mother-in-law, Tina Knowles, at the premiere of Disney’s Mufasa in Hollywood, California, on Monday, December […]
Both Jay-Z, 55, and Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was also accused in the lawsuit, denied the “heinous” allegations and Jay-Z filed to dismiss the court case.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé has been “putting on a brave face” for her kids, an insider tells Us Weekly. The “Single Ladies” singer and Jay-Z are parents to daughter Blue Ivy, 12, as well as twins Rumi and , Sir, both 7.
“My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people,” Jay-Z said in a statement to Us on Sunday, December 8. “I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”
Beyoncé and Jay-Z appeared publicly for the first time since the allegations on Monday, December 9, as they attended the Los Angeles premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King with Blue Ivy. Beyoncé voices Nala in the animated movie-musical while Blue Ivy plays Kiara.