CSU Student Leader First Recipient of LL Cool J Scholarship
Chicago State University (CSU) senior, Darius Sanders, president of CSU’s Student Government Association (SGA), made history as the first-ever recipient of the LL Cool J Scholarship granted through the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF).
The announcement that Sanders, a CSU senior, was the winning recipient of the scholarship was made last year during TMCF’s 26th Annual Awards Gala, held Nov. 12, 2014, in Washington, DC featuring Grammy® Award-winning singer, songwriter, Regina Belle and attended by other celebrities.
“I didn’t know that I won the scholarship until they called my name at Thurgood Marshall College Fund gala” Sanders said of his $6,200 prize that will cover his senior year tuition, books and fees. “My parents were ecstatic and I also got a lot of support from other students who know how hard I work.”
Sanders said he learned a lot from the interview process leading up to the award.
When asked what LL Cool J said to him that day, Sanders replied, “He told me he was proud of me for all the hard work I do on campus and that (as a Black male) he’s also faced challenges as he tried to get ahead.”
Johnny Taylor, Jr., president/CEO of the Thurgood Marshall Fund, said Sanders was chosen because he exemplified and embodied all the qualities of a young black male from a fragile community who was defying the odds but struggled with the financial end of it.
“Darius embodies all of that,” said Taylor. “He is committed to education and success. We focused on kids who are academically competitive but not the usual middle-class student from the suburbs.”
A general accounting major, Sanders is the fifth member of his family to attend CSU.
In addition to increasing student involvement, Sanders is working with CSU’s SGA to maintain a strong learning environment on campus including helping the Learning Assistance Center expand tutoring resources particularly in math and science.
His efforts does not stop there however, as Sanders is also working with University leaders to implement job training and job placement services for graduating students.
When not studying, Sanders interns at a Hyde Park accounting firm and enjoys spending as much time as possible with his family.
As for the scholarship, rapper/actor LL Cool J, born James Todd Smith, talked about the scholarship on an NBC Ellen De’Generes show last year, where he revealed his philanthropic connection with CSU saying, “I just want to give a quick shout out to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. I’m funding a scholarship for Chicago State University,” Cool J said on the Nov. 14, 2014 Ellen show.
Named for the U.S. Supreme Court's first African-American Justice, Thurgood Marshall, the College Fund was established in 1987 under the leadership of Dr. N. Joyce Payne in cooperation with Miller Brewing Co., Sony Music, the NBA, Reebok and the American Association for State Colleges and Universities and currently support and represent nearly 300,000 students attending its 47 member-schools that include public, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), medical, and law schools.
The rapper never graduated from high school or college after signing with Def Jam Records as a teenager in 1984, but last May, received an honorary doctorate degree from Northeastern University. His daughter, Italia Smith, graduated from Northeastern in May.
Following a string of hits—included on albums like Bigger and Deffer, Walking with a Panther, Mama Said Knock You Out, 14 Shots to the Dome, Mr. Smith—LL turned to acting, appearing in movies like B.A.P.S., Halloween H2O and Any Given Sunday, Deliver Us From Eva, the big-budget action flick S.W.A.T, with Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell and Last Holiday opposite Queen Latifah.
Cool J currently is a regular on the CBS’s, NCIS: Los Angeles.
The focus was on a student like Sanders for this very first award, Taylor said but it’s open to any student attending publicly supported colleges or universities or an HBCU. To apply, please visit, www.thurgoodmarshallfund.net.
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