+
upworthy
More

Why George Lucas' $10 million donation to promote diversity matters.

He and Mellody Hobson took a step toward helping underrepresented groups in Hollywood.

George Lucas wants to help make Hollywood a more diverse place — starting with his alma mater.

George Lucas graduated from the University of Southern California in the late 1960s before going on to make some of culture's most iconic films. In 2006, he donated a whopping $175 million to USC's film school. Nine years later, and he and his wife, Mellody Hobson, opened up the pocketbooks once again, this time with a much more targeted initiative.


Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.

Lucas and Hobson just donated $10 million to USC's film school to help minority students and increase diversity.

The donation marks the creation of the George Lucas Foundation Endowed Student Support Fund for Diversity. It's the largest single donation for student support the school has ever received.

Here's how it'll work, according to the school's website:

"Undergraduate and graduate African American or Hispanic students will receive priority consideration for financial support from the fund. The recipients, who will be called George Lucas Scholars or Mellody Hobson Scholars, will first be awarded for fall 2016. The awards will be split equally between male and female students."

Hispanic and African-American storytellers are underrepresented in the entertainment industry. It is Mellody's and my privilege to provide this assistance to qualified students who want to contribute their unique experience and talent to telling their stories," Lucas said in a statement posted to the school's website (emphasis added).

Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.

USC's own striking 2014 study found that, yes, diversity is certainly lacking in Hollywood.

When it came to characters, nearly three-quarters were white.

"Of those characters coded for race/ethnicity across 100 top films of 2014, 73.1% were White, 4.9% were Hispanic/Latino, 12.5% were Black, 5.3% were Asian, 2.9% were Middle Eastern, <1% were American Indian/Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 1.2% were from “other" racial and/or ethnic groupings."


And when it comes to diversity among directors, things are even worse.

"Across the 100 top films of 2014, only 5 of the 107 directors (4.7%) were Black. One Black director helmed two pictures and only one was female. Only 45 Black directors have been attached to the 700 top‐grossing films. This represents 5.8% of all helmers in the years analyzed. Only 19 Asian directors worked across the 700 top‐grossing films. This is an overall percentage of 2.4%. Only 1 Asian director was female across the films analyzed and was listed as a co‐director."

Lucas' contribution will certainly help, and hopefully spark a wider conversation about, diversity in Hollywood.

Fixing Hollywood's diversity problems isn't something that can happen overnight. Change hinges on so many factors, and one is the question of whether those in a position of power will use that power to lift the voices of minority filmmakers and actors. That's why it's important that people like Michael Moore and Geena Davis speak up and that George Lucas makes contributions like this.

Lucas resists the dark side of the Force and proves himself to be a true Jedi. Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images.

Lucas' donation helps push back in an effort to break down the barriers that prevent others from telling their stories. Well done, George.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

Keep ReadingShow less

A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Innovation

A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

Keep ReadingShow less
via PamTina_/Twitter

Pam's little brother is so sweet.

Pam has a little brother, who recently learned that he is actually her half-brother.

Of course, half-siblings are still very much siblings, but Pam's brother doesn't quite grasp the concept yet and seems upset about having to part with 50% of his sister.

Keep ReadingShow less

Jennifer Garner's Ziploc care package.

Homelessness has been on the increase in America since 2016 and the numbers exploded in 2020. On a single night in January 2020, there were more than 580,000 individuals who were without a home.

There are many reasons for the increase in homelessness and one of the leading causes is a lack of affordable housing across the country. Housing prices have been on a steady increase and, according to PBS, we are about 7 million units short of affordable housing in the country.

So what can the average person do about this human tragedy taking place in America’s streets? Some people who would like to help don’t feel comfortable giving money to homeless people, although experts in the field say that most of the time it is OK.

Keep ReadingShow less