Summer Edition

Columbia Teams with Harlem Week to Honor New York City's Future Community Leaders

BY LAUREN MARSHALL

Getting a sneak peak of her soon-to-be home, Carissa Williams, a college-bound senior from the Bronx, was invited to a scholarship breakfast in Columbia's Low Library in late July three years ago to receive a Harlem Week scholarship.

It was her first official college event. "I remember when I has visited the campus for a campus tour, I had admired Low from afar," she said. "But when I entered the building for the scholarship breakfast, I was struck by a strong sense of history and tradition. There I was among ancient sculptures and artifacts. What an introduction to college!"

Carissa is one of many promising young minds from the five boroughs of New York who are recognized annually by Harlem Week, a week-long cornucopia of events that pay tribute to Harlem's rich history and celebrate ethnic diversity in all of urban America. Selected not only on the basis of their academic accomplishment, Harlem Week scholars also must prove their commitment to community service through participation in volunteer programs.

This year, during an Aug. 3 breakfast ceremony at Columbia, awards were given to 11 students. They included: Landon Dais, Stephanie Gonzalez, Jasmine Javier, Anthony Sivwright, Gerald Martinez, Shana Simmons, Jomel Nelson, Tasha Pacheco, Ayana Walker, Trina Yearwood and Mahogany Jones.

Organizations receiving grants included Movement of the Children Dance Center, The Learning Tree, The Valley and Harlem Junior Tennis League. This year's scholarship and grant sponsors are Bronx Health Plan, Chase Bank, Gap, Harlem Hospital, Minolta Copier Corporation, M&T Bank, Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. of NY, Time Warner Cable, WBLS-FM, WLIB-AM, United Federation of Teacher and Touro College.

Harlem Weeks offers more than 50 scholarships and grants annually. Last year alone $163,000 was granted to individuals and institutions in the form of $500-$2,500 scholarships and grants.

"We live in a country where there is a pronounced effort to support young people in dire straits," said Lloyd Williams, chairman of Harlem Week. "In this country if someone is in high school and they commit a crime or act out in an antisocial manner, they get attention. But what about the model student? What we are saying with this scholarship program is we have got to stop recognizing kids that are not doing the right thing. That student who sat in the classroom, who did their homework, who gave back to the community, they deserve the recognition."

For eight of its 25 years, Columbia University and Harlem Week have teamed together to honor scholarship recipients with a breakfast held in Columbia's Low Library. "For many scholarship recipients and their parents, it is the first time they have ever set foot on the grounds of an institution of higher education," Lloyd Williams said. "This breakfast at Columbia allows parents the opportunity to come in and feel what it is like to be a part of the academic community, to get a sense of what their children will experience for the next four years."

But the scholarship does not end with a breakfast and a check to help buy books. As a Columbia College freshman, Carissa realized she needed a job to help with expenses, so she sought out the man who presented her with her Harlem Week scholarship a few months before, Larry Dais, assistant vice president and director of community affairs for Columbia University. In doing so, she found a mentor who would advise her and assist her throughout her college career. To this day, she works part-time as a coordinator for the Columbia Community Service program under the direction of Larry Dais in the Office of Public Affairs.

Carissa is not the only lucky one. There are many scholarship sponsors who adopt these young people and 'keep' them until they graduate, according to Lloyd Williams. In effect, Harlem Week has built a sort of mentoring program with repeat sponsors taking an active mentoring role on behalf of the students whose scholarships they funded and often providing summer jobs.

"This program is central to Columbia University's mission," Dais said. "As a neighbor to the vastly diverse communities of Harlem and Washington Heights, we feel that it is our duty to support programs that serve the scholars of the future, from all ethnic backgrounds, from all neighborhoods, from all walks of life."