Kanye West, 44, is expanding his horizons beyond music and fashion with an educational institute. The Illinois native is reportedly opening the Donda Academy just outside of Los Angeles named for his late mother Donda West who passed away in 2007. Notably, Donda was a professor at the Chicago State University’s English department, and taught at the post-secondary level for 31 years.
Kanye’s name is not mentioned anywhere on the website, which boasts a mission statement, admissions page and contact email. HollywoodLife has reached out to the institution for confirmation that Kanye is involved. It was also reported that the facility will be located between Simi Valley and the Moorpark area at a shuttered private school, per local Los Angeles news affiliate CBS 2. No opening date is advertised on the simple black website, which features bold, capitalized gray text.
“Using an ethic of integrity and care, Donda Academy prepares students to become the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and innovators by providing them with a world-class education that includes a rigorous core curriculum and emphasis on sustainability, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving,” the mission statement page reads.
The homepage of the site offers further detail about the school’s intentions, including a subtle reference to the institution being Christian based. “Finding the intersection between faith and the innovation of the future, Donda Academy is focused on equipping students with an education that will last in the ever-changing world.” An admissions page is linked just below, inquiring about which “educational pathway” prospective students are interested in.
The school is also reportedly backed by Adidas, who produces Kanye’s Yeezy line, with a focus on building a strong basketball team to compete with Los Angeles private school Sierra Canyon (also the alma mater of Kendall and Kylie Jenner), per Yahoo! Sports. High school prospects have taken to Instagram to confirm they’ve been reached out to by the rapper to potentially enroll in the yet-to-be-opened school, including North Carolina’s Robert Dillingham, Georgia’s Jahki Howard and New Jersey’s Zion Cruz, the website also indicated.