Denzel Washington donates $2.25 million to Fordham

The Associated Press, Wednesday, October 5, 2011, 7:22am (PDT)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Denzel Washington has donated $2.25 million to Fordham University, his alma mater.

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The university said Monday that Washington has given $2 million to endow the Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre, and another $250,000 to establish a scholarship for a minority undergraduate student studying theater at Fordham.

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Phylicia Rashad, who played Clair Huxtable on "The Cosby Show," has joined the school's faculty as the first Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre.

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Washington cited the late Bob Stone, who was a theater professor at Fordham, for inspiring him.