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Deshaun Davis Establishes Scholarship Foundation

AUbritt

By AUbritt
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AUbritt Founding Father

AUbritt 611

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War Eagle, Deshaun!

Good story from Justin Hokanson.

Davis, a redshirt freshman linebacker at Auburn, dreamed of giving back to the town of Prichard, and after a conversation with his godfather Joey Davis, an idea emerged. That idea came to fruition on Wednesday, as the "Deshaun Davis Foundation" delivered its first $1,000 scholarship to Vigor High School student Broderick Morissette.

Davis, Auburn's Student-Athlete of the Month for April, saved his own money to deliver Morissette with the scholarship to help with college expenses.

"Receiving this scholarship (Morissette) has vowed that he "#WontBeDenied," Davis announced on Instagram. "That no matter the circumstance he will NEVER quit! All obstacles that he is to face on this journey of life will be a stepping stone springing him closer to achieving his goals! Once again, congratulations Broderick!"

The phrase "#WontBeDenied" is the motto Davis chose for his foundation.

Those who know Davis best weren't surprised by his generosity.

"I knew it was something he always wanted to do," Davis' mother, Constance Davis Jefferson, told AuburnUndercover. "He's talked to me about it for years. My heart was warm because not too many people have that desire to do that. Him being my child, it made me proud as a mom. I don't know how long it took him to save that money. I always told him to save his money and not to blow it, and that's what he did."

Davis' former principal, Douglas July, was "overwhelmed."

"He's making a positive choice and trying to influence other men under him to do the same thing," July said. July is a former assistant principal at Vigor and alumnus of the high school. He has known Davis for five years.

"I was happy and overjoyed," July said. "It's awesome of him to do this. He has reached down to help someone, so the next person should reach down and help someone."

Qualifications for receiving the scholarship include meeting GPA requirements, ACT requirements, completing an essay that will be read by Davis himself, and the student must also be the product of a single parent household.

That last qualification is specific, but important to Davis, who was one of four children raised by a single mother.

"Deshaun told me he based that off of me, being a single mom," Jefferson said. "I'm now married, but he looked back at those things I did to raise them and that touched him. He wanted to help people in that situation. He's seen other kids not able to go to college because their single parent couldn't afford it. That's what made him want to do it for them.

"I hope people see that, even though this is Deshaun's first year in school, he didn't have a lot of money. They'll look at Deshaun and think 'if he can accomplish that, I can accomplish my goals.' I hope kids realize they can accomplish goals, because that's all Deshaun is doing. He set a goal and he's accomplishing it."

The foundation plans to award scholarships annually and also be involved in the community of Prichard through mentoring and donations.

"We're going to keep it going," Jefferson said. "He wanted to be a legacy so one day his kids can keep it going in his name."

Davis, who suffered a knee injury prior to his senior year in high school and redshirted in 2014, just completed his first spring camp at Auburn under new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.

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sogaaufan Mentor

sogaaufan 27

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Whew! At least we get to cleanse our palette after having to choke on the Elijah Daniels story this morning! War Eagle Deshaun!

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AUbritt Founding Father

AUbritt 611

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I looked at the Rivals board the other day, and it is filled with posts about other teams' players getting in trouble. I tried to start a conversation about other teams' spring games, but there wasn't too much interest. Would be great if we would at least celebrate the good more than we decry the bad -- both about our team and others. I want to beat the teams we play every year. But I think anyone who revels in the offseason woes of another team (like the Fulmer Cup) is seriously misguided.

The contrast between the stories of Daniel and Davis is stark. But I hope we keep this thread focused on celebrating what Davis has done. (Not trying to scold you, at all, sogaaufan. In fact, when I posted the story, I thought about saying something similar to your comment. But I decided against it.)

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Mikey Founding Father

Mikey 16,544

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Great story! It had to be tough for him to save $1,000. What an effort!

During the recruiting process I kept reading that Deshaun was one of the leaders of the committed guys. This is an excellent example of positive leadership.

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AUbritt Founding Father

AUbritt 611

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Great story! It had to be tough for him to save $1,000. What an effort!

During the recruiting process I kept reading that Deshaun was one of the leaders of the committed guys. This is an excellent example of positive leadership.

I agree, Mikey! Makes me really hopeful about Deshaun's future with the team, and beyond. That kind of perseverance is something we can all celebrate. Hope it rubs off on his teammates, too!

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cole256 Founding Father

cole256 17,038

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Absolutely. It just inspired me to think about something to do in Florence Alabama. I already know a couple of bright students right now. Awesome.

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AU64 Founding Father

AU64 10,122

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Wonder if this will make it into al.com.....probably not......Auburn kid doing something good for his community...who would care about that?

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AUbritt Founding Father

AUbritt 611

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Wonder if this will make it into al.com.....probably not......Auburn kid doing something good for his community...who would care about that?

Well, maybe you're right. Check out how many views and replies this thread has in comparison to the other. I know the other thread has been up longer; but we're much more prone to pay attention to negatives over positives and to verbalize our 'shames on you' rather than our 'attaboys'. We ought to spend more time celebrating Deshaun than expressing out disappointment in Elijah. But I will be pleasantly surprised if that happens.

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Tiger Founding Father

Tiger 8,817

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Wonder if this will make it into al.com.....probably not......Auburn kid doing something good for his community...who would care about that?

Well, maybe you're right. Check out how many views and replies this thread has in comparison to the other. I know the other thread has been up longer; but we're much more prone to pay attention to negatives over positives and to verbalize our 'shames on you' rather than our 'attaboys'. We ought to spend more time celebrating Deshaun than expressing out disappointment in Elijah. But I will be pleasantly surprised if that happens.

bingo

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PigskinPat Founding Father

PigskinPat 2,561

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After seeing mention of this in another post I quickly came over to have a look. Just simply incredible that he undertook something like this. He is a lot smarter and wiser than I was at his age. Thank you for sharing this and I think we should be and are all proud of this young man!

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McLoofus Founding Father

McLoofus 35,182

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I just can't get over a 2nd-year college kid giving $1,000 of his own money to another kid for education. I mean, to start any kind of positive foundation at that age is pretty remarkable, but to literally put your money where your mouth is (sorry, that metafour (hehehe) has probably already been used in this thread, but I didn't read every post) is something else. It's awfully humbling to know that folks like that exist. I'm glad at least one of them wears the O&B. Thanks for sharing, AUbritt!

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