The California State University (CSU) is pleased to announce the six recipients for its first-ever Black Student Success Scholarship, sponsored by the CSU Foundation. These exemplary undergraduate students will be honored during a livestream ceremony as part of the second biennial CSU Juneteenth Symposium at approximately 12 pm (PST) on Friday, June 14, 2024.
Scholars were selected for demonstrating leadership in increasing equitable access to higher education and undertaking community service that promotes antiracism work and culture change to elevate Black excellence. Each scholar will receive a $5,000 award for the 2024-25 academic year.
“It is my great honor to award the inaugural Black Student Success Scholarship to six extraordinary students who have demonstrated their passion for supporting the Black community in service beyond the classroom," said CSU Chancellor Mildred García. “These scholars represent the highest ideals and brightest future of our university system and embody our commitment to creating a culture and community throughout the CSU where all students, faculty and staff have equitable representation, holistic support and an authentic sense of belonging."
The CSU is privileged to serve as the largest and most diverse public four-year university in the country and remains committed to becoming a national leader in Black student outreach, recruitment, enrollment, persistence, success and graduation. The inaugural Black Student Success Scholarship represents another key milestone of the CSU's continued growth in advancing Black student success and elevating Black excellence across the 23-university system.
The 2024 inaugural CSU Black Student Success Scholars are:
- Armand Jovaughn Egere, CSU Dominguez Hills
- Asad Franklin, Sonoma State
- Tajuddin Henry, San Diego State
- Olympia Joy Pereira, San Francisco State
- Aliyshah Shamburger, Cal State San Bernardino
- Chloe Thomas, Cal State Long Beach
About the CSU Juneteenth Symposium & Black Student Success
The CSU's second biennial Juneteenth Symposium takes place Thursday, June 13 and Friday, June 14, 2024, via livestream (Calstate.edu/Juneteenth). In collaboration with Sacramento State, the two-day #CSUJuneteenth event features world-class speakers and thought-provoking panel discussions to showcase the contributions of the African American community, highlight the ongoing work taking place across the CSU system, and provide a space for authentic dialogue on actionable steps the CSU — and colleges nationwide — can take to solidify the success of Black students.
The CSU's inaugural Juneteenth Symposium in 2022 was a call to action for the university system. Following the event, the CSU convened a team of subject matter experts and university leaders to develop recommendations that would position the system as a national leader in Black student success. The resulting June 2023 action plan included 13 forward-thinking recommendations for championing inclusive excellence, closing equity gaps and advancing social mobility for Black students across the university.
Continuing its momentum and commitment, in 2024 the CSU conducted a systemwide inventory and asked each university to identity one to three meaningful action items to achieve within the 2024-25 academic year that would support Black student success. In April 2024, the CSU announced an allocation of $4.6 million in one-time catalyst funding to aid in the implementation of more than 65 action items systemwide.
In May 2024, the CSU also announced the launch of its first-ever statewide central office for Black Student Success. The new central office will cultivate and innovate transformative practices across the system's 23 universities, as well as underserved communities.
About the California State University
The California State University is the nation's largest four-year public university system, providing transformational opportunities for upward mobility to more than 450,000 students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. More than half of CSU students are from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, and more than one-quarter of undergraduates are first-generation college students. Because the CSU's 23 universities provide a high-quality education at an incredible value, they are rated among the best in the nation for promoting social mobility in national college rankings from U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly. The CSU powers California and the nation, sending nearly 127,000 career-ready graduates into the workforce each year. In fact, one in every 20 Americans holding a college degree earned it at the CSU. Connect with and learn more about the CSU in the CSU newsroom.