Corban Bell, who recently graduated from Grambling State University in Louisiana with a 3.66 grade point average, was named the winner of the Toyota Green Initiative contest. The competition is an effort by Toyota to involve students at historically Black colleges and universities in sustainability projects.
Bell was honored for this efforts to initiate a university-wide recycling effort on the Grambling campus. Bell campaigned for the student body to accept a $1 fee per semester to fund the recycling effort. The students voted for Bell’s proposal, which will raise more than $50,000 for the effort over the next five years.
For winning the competition, Bell will receive a free one-year lease of a Toyota Prius. He also receives $1,200 for insurance and gasoline. The university received a grant from Toyota to purchase trees and shrubbery for campus beautification projects.
Bell will begin a job with the accounting firm KPMG in San Francisco this August.