The donation will cover the cost of all four years of an unidentified Latin high school student's higher education.
- Jun 20, 2018
AceShowbiz - Actress Gina Rodriguez is helping an undocumented Latin immigrant achieve her college dreams by using her TV network's awards season advertising funds to cover her tuition.
TV studio executives spend millions every year on "For Your Consideration" promos in the run-up to major awards shows, urging industry voters to keep their top projects and its stars in mind for nominations.
Previous campaigns to highlight Rodriguez's work on her hit comedy Jane the Virgin have failed to land her on the Primetime Emmy Awards shortlists, so this year, she persuaded network bosses at The CW, on which her show airs, to put those funds to better use.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, they agreed to let the Golden Globe winner team up with officials at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles youth support organisation to find the ideal candidate, and settled on an unidentified Latin high school student who will now be heading to top college Princeton University this autumn on a full scholarship.
The donation will cover the cost of all four years of her higher education, and Gina hopes going public with the news of the good deed will encourage others to help members of the undocumented immigrant community in the U.S.
"I think sharing this might inspire other people to do something similar," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "You can desire recognition (in Hollywood) and, at the same time, decide to not play in the confines of the game as it's set up".
The cause was particularly important to Rodriguez because it's a topic she and her castmates have previously highlighted on Jane the Virgin, while she has also served on the Hispanic Scholarship Fund's board of directors since 2015.
The news of Rodriguez's act of kindness emerges as U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration continue to face heavy criticism for adopting a zero-tolerance approach to people illegally crossing over the American border from Mexico, with officials currently separating parents from their kids as they are taken into custody.
