Drake Donates $10K to Frost School’s Donna E. Shalala MusicReach Program

Hip-hop Superstar Drake Surprises UM Students with Donations and a Performance.
Drake Donates $10K to Frost School’s Donna E. Shalala MusicReach Program

Hip-hop superstar Drake visited the University of Miami campus on Monday, February 5th to film a video for his Cash Money Records single “God’s Plan.” In addition to his surprise visit, Drake donated $10,000 to the Frost School of Music’s Donna E. Shalala MusicReach Program. MusicReach director Melissa Lesniak said, "It was an exciting day yesterday when Drake visited the Frost School and MusicReach was the proud recipient of a generous 10K donation that will go towards supporting a MusicReach graduate teaching assistant. Frost's teaching assistants are lead teachers in our program serving over 700 underserved youth each week."

The award-winning Donna E. Shalala MusicReach Program promotes the healthy growth of children and youth through the study and practice of music while nurturing the development of Frost student musicians to become advocates and ambassadors for music education for all children regardless of socio-economic standing. A top goal of MusicReach is to keep students in school and to go on to college upon graduation.

Students at the Frost School of Music

Drake’s video performance took place on the Moss Terrace of the Shalala Student Center. Footage included hundreds of students gathered around the SSC and the Lakeside Patio Stage. Afterward, the music mogul was spotted by students inside the SSC sporting a UM sweatshirt and throwing up his hands in the U multiple times. Drake also presented a $50,000 check for scholarships to the University, and student Destiny James, who plans to major in public health, was selected as the first recipient by the Office of Student Financial Assistance.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Drake said at the end of his UM patio stage performance. “I’ve been to a lot of places in the world. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a more turnt school than this. I wish you all the best in life, a lot of love, a lot of happiness for you, your friends and your family.”



Top