The 18-year-old Morehouse College freshman saw that rapper Travis Scott on Wednesday tweeted that he was willing to cover the first semester of tuition for five students attending any Historically Black College or University (HBCU).
Scott also tweeted that each of his parents had attended an HBCU. His mother went to Grambling State University, and his father went to Prairie View A&M University.
Branch, who plans to major in business administration and marketing, tweeted a photo of his college acceptance letter, along with a screen shot of a text explaining his story.
“COVID-19 has taken away my prom, my senior graduation, and my freshman year at Morehouse,” tweeted the first-generation HBCU student, who says that his family “is doing all they can” to support him. “THIS COULD CHANGE MY LIFE!”
Branch’s tweet caught Scott’s attention.
“My mom always wanted me to go here.!!!!” the rapper tweeted in response. “So I got u bro !!! Just lock in and come out of there ready to change the world.”
Later that evening, the rapper also promised to cover the tuition of Taylor Ivy, a Howard University freshman.
He has not publicly selected any other students. CNN has reached out to both Branch and Ivy for comment.
As of Saturday afternoon, Scott’s initial tweet offering to pay for tuition had over 244,000 likes and was retweeted over 18,000 times.
The tuition at Morehouse, which is teaching students remotely this semester, is $27,000 for the 2020-21 academic year.
“We don’t have any information on the gift at this time,” Aileen Dodd, a Morehouse College spokeswoman, told CNN.
This is not the first philanthropic action from the Grammy-nominated rapper. While performing at the 2019 Hangout Festival, the rapper announced that he would donate all of the profits from merchandise sales that day to Planned Parenthood.
“I love you all,” the rapper said at the festival. “I just want everyone to know that love is the strongest thing that we can have.”
