It seems musician Mary J. Blige may have gotten a little overexcited about her future academic plans. The Grammy Award-winning singer recently told “Good Morning America” and the New Orleans Time-Picayune that she planned to join Howard University’s class of 2014, bringing a bit of glitz and glamour to D.C.
“The city of New York gave me my high school diploma,” she gushed to the Times-Picayune. “And now Howard University has accepted me.”
Well, not exactly.
Neither the university nor Blige’s people knew much about the singer’s educational ambitions, and it took a day of talks between the two parties before the university offered this statement, coming Tuesday evening from media relations manager Kerry-Ann Hamilton.
“Without question, Ms. Mary J. Blige’s resilience and dedication to her craft are largely unmatched,” it starts. “Howard University congratulates Ms. Blige on the recent completion of her high school requirements. We encourage Ms. Blige to continue her studies and welcome her consideration of Howard University in the future. We are happy to work with Ms. Blige on completing the formal process for admission.”
The 39-year-old songstress previously dropped out of high school and recently acquired her GED. She would be earning a bachelor’s degree at Howard.
Blige’s publicist did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails for comment by press time.
