He may have long since moved on to greener pastures, but Steve Harvey is still mighty proud of his Northeast Ohio roots.
Though the 62-year-old was born in Welch, West Virginia, Harvey spent much of his childhood on East 112th St. in Cleveland before graduating from Glenville High School in 1974. He later attended Kent State University for a time before transferring to West Virginia, and remains a die-hard Cleveland sports fan.
Last month, the popular comedian and host of Family Feud gave back to the community that gave him so much, awarding eight scholarships for students to attend Kent State. The scholarships—awarded through the Steve and Majorie Harvey Foundation—will cover cost of attendance, or roughly $23,000 per student.
The scholarships are in memory of Devin Moore, a KSU student who died in 2017 while playing basketball at the rec center. Harvey met with university officials following Moore's death and committed to providing scholarships to students as a way of honoring Moore's legacy. Both Harvey and Moore were members of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity during their respective times as students.
"Whenever we can, we find a way to change the lives of young people through scholarship programs we have come up with," Harvey said.
Of the students receiving scholarships, seven are from Northeast Ohio while another from Maryland is a member of the Steve Harvey Mentoring Program. They are:
- Lamont Averett - Barberton
- Zethran Jackson - Akron
- Mark Jenkins - Barberton
- Jaiden Morales - Lorain
- Johnell Parnell - Akron
- Kelvon Gibson - Cleveland
- Anthony Morris Jr. - Cleveland
- Craig Johnson - Springdale, Maryland
All scholarship recipients were flown out to Los Angeles for a taping of Harvey's talk show Steve, which will air Wednesday in the Cleveland market. Harvey says the gesture should "really blow up the fact that Kent State has made an effort to reach out to some forgotten young people to change their lives through education. I’m more than happy to be a part of it."
In addition to the scholarships, Harvey's foundation has also pledged $10,000 for the Kent State Men Empowerment Network within the Student Multicultural Center.