Boosie Honors Southern University Hazing Victim Caleb Wilson With Scholarship At Boosie Bash

Boosie said he wanted to do something to honor Wilson's memory.

A scholarship honoring fallen Southern University student and band member Caleb Wilson who died after collapsing during an Omega Psi Psi ritual in February to be unveiled during the sixth annual Boosie Bash Festival on the campus of Southern University during this weekend.

According to Louisiana First News, Boosie, the Baton Rouge-born rapper, partnered with the Southern University Marching Band (otherwise known as The Human Jukebox) to offer a scholarship to an incoming freshman who needs to be a resident of New Orleans and a future member of the band to qualify.

Boosie mentioned to the outlet that Wilson’s father played a prominent role in making this year’s Boosie Bash possible, before noting that he wanted to use his platform to bring attention to what happened to Wilson while also spreading positivity to the community.

“We’re just trying to lift some people up and give some notoriety on what happened… but we’re definitely in support,” Boosie told Louisiana First News.

Performers at the Boosie Bash Festival on March 22 are set to include GloRilla, Sexyy Red, DaBaby, Snug, BG, Big Boogie, Level, BJ So Cole, Ratchet Lo, and Supa Big King, as well as Boosie himself.

According to Power 98, a portion of the funds raised at the festival will go towards the scholarship. Boosie also told WBRZ that what happened to Wilson almost derailed the event, but he wanted to do something to honor his memory.

“This incident almost stopped the Boosie Bash…We’re going to do something special for him, because that’s a life lost too short,” Boosie told WBRZ. “I just want to make it right.”

Caleb Wilson’s death, which has reignited discussions around hazing and the idea of violence visited on young men disguised as tradition, was recently discussed by Byron Hurt, the director of a 2022 documentary about hazing, titled “Hazing,” with The Grio.

“There are more layers to the culture of hazing than there are in white organizations. White organizations, they don’t have the same cultural background and cultural history that we have as Black people in America,” Hurt said. “They haven’t experienced a level of oppression, pain, trauma, victimization, violence, and so those things, those traumas, get passed down from generation to generation.”

“There is a good case to be made about activities in which people have to earn their way into the organization, but those activities don’t have to be violent at all,” Hurt told the outlet, before making the point that instead of violence, activities should center around capitalizing “on the talents and the gifts that individuals are bringing.”