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'This Is Bigger Than Freddie Gray' Coppin State Development Foundation Announces $25K Freddie Gray Scholarship

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Coppin State Development Foundation announced that they have created a $25,000 scholarship in the memory of Freddie Gray.

Back in 2015, Baltimore was under an international microscope after the death and uprising of Freddie Gray.

"What everyone else watched on television, we watched outside our door," said a witness. "Every camera in the world was in Baltimore that time."

Six years after his death, his name is now associated with changing the community. It's an extension of community service.

"It is an honor to partner with McDonald's and the Gray family on this special scholarship we are offering today," University President Anthony L. Jenkins said.

The scholarship will be awarded to graduates of Carver Vocational Technical High School, where Gray went to school. Baltimore City reached a 6.4 million dollar settlement with Gray's family after the investigation. Monday, they continue to pay it forward.

"My family is great. We support each other. We help each other," Fredricka Gray said. She is Freddie's twin sister. "We're friendly. We like to give back," she said.

"It bears Freddie Gray's name, but this is bigger than Freddie Gray," Jenkins adds. "This is about the young people and the opportunities they're going to have leaving Carver and where they get to go."

The man who was the face of tragedy in a dark era of our city now leads the way for optimism in the future. Coppin State played as a witness to the 2015 riots as they sit less than a mile away from Pennsylvania and North Avenue.

Now, they can see a future student rise above it all with quality education without the financial burden.

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