The United Negro College Fund held their 33rd annual Mayor’s Masked Ball Atlanta on Saturday, December 17. The ball is one of their biggest fundraising events to help "raise awareness of the need and benefits of a college education, the students UNCF serves and the contributions of historically black colleges and universities." The star-studded red carpet event is always attended by celebrities, civic leaders, UNCF alumni and more. This year the stars showed up in more ways than one. With the new administration coming into the White House, none of us are sure of where HBCUs will stand on the Trump agenda.

Under the Obama administration, we have seen a $4 billion dollar investment into our HBCUs. However, those funds aren't promised going forward and neither is a commitment to an HBCU initiative. Therefore supporting our HBCUs is a priority for our community. We all we got! Literally.

Usher, Tyrese, Future and Jeezy saw the need to help us support our HBCUs when they cut a check for the cause. Each of the four donated $25k to the UNCF. It seems that Tyrese's donation inspired other celebs to match his donation. He shared his excitement on social media,"We raised MILLION at the Atlanta Masquerade #MAYORSBALL last night in conjunction with UNICEF I proudly jumped out there and donated 25,000 and my brother Usher didn't even blink and marched it…. 25,000 then my guy @jeezy jumped out there 25,000 and everyone else in the room felt like that had to step it up!!!! Then I got a text message from my brother @ludacris who jumped out there and matched us at 25,000 it was just amazing and MILLIONS OF DOLLARS was raised and we're going to put our angles through college………"

The UNCF also shared their gratitude on social media towards the gentlemen for their gracious gifts."Special thanks to superstars Tyrese Gibson, Usher and Future, who each donated $25k ???? to send students to & through college ✨????????at our #Atlanta Mayor's Masked Ball! Thank you @kasimreed for your continued support to UNCF and all we do. #MMBATL #BetterFutures #SeasonToGive"

It's safe to say the Mayor's Masked Ball was a major success, thanks to not only these gentlemen but also others who invested in the future of our HBCUs. The mind is truly a terrible thing to waste.

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