Zaila Avant-garde Offered Scholarship To LSU

Zalia Avant-garde won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee and now she is also being honored with a full scholarship To Louisiana State University.

LSU President William F. Tate IV tweeted on Saturday (July 10), “Your academic performance reflected scholarship first! You modeled intellectual excellence. @LSU_Honors awaits. I write to offer you a full scholarship to attend LSU. Here for you!”

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The 14-year-old has not publicly responded to the offer as of yet, but she previously told CNN she wants to play basketball at Harvard University.

The Harvey, Louisiana native went viral after becoming the first African American winner representing the United States to win in 93 editions of the competition.

After correctly spelling “murraya,” a type of tree, she did a spin, and a jump in the air as confetti sprinkled down, confirming her huge win.

“It felt really good to win because I have been working on it for like two years. So to actually win the whole thing was like a dream come true,” she told CNN’s New Day on Friday (July 9). “I felt like in the moment I snapped out of a surreal dream.”

Zaila will receive a $50,000 cash prize.

In 1998, Jody-Anne Maxwell, representing Jamaica, was the first Black winner of the competition.