June 13-19, 2018 • michiganchronicle.com • Page B-4
NABJ
EMU honors fallen student Jayquon Tillman with scholarship fund
From page B-2
By Branden Hunter Jayquon “Jay” Tillman was ahead of his time. Literally. The Cleveland native was an 18-year-old juniorto-be at Eastern Michigan University, where he was studying Political Science. After graduation, he planned on becoming a history teacher and would then pay his way through law school. But those dreams were cut short when he was shot and killed at a house party near the Cleveland area May 6, 2017. Tillman was a scholar at EMU and was heavily involved in the community in Ypsilanti, Michigan, as a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Delta Nu Chapter, the Kings of Color Student Organization, the Young Brother’s Leadership Council of the Washtenaw County chapter of My Brother’s Keeper, helping the homeless, and more. That prompted the Eastern Michigan University Foundation to start the Jayquon Tillman Memorial Scholarship to honor his life and service to the EMU community. The crowdfunding platform offers EMU donors, alumni, and fans an avenue to provide direct support to projects and activities that are most meaningful to them. “The scholarship idea actually came about last year, maybe a month or so after he had passed,” said Benjamin Barnes, who is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Delta Nu Chapter and liaison for the fraternity. “We set down with the university then and the timing wasn’t right. We revisited the conversation about three months ago and got the ball rolling. I felt this was necessary because I didn’t want him to be forgotten. I owed him that much.” The endowed scholarship was established to serve EMU students from under-served communities, who have freshman or sophomore status and a 3.0 GPA, with financial assistance, but to also help students that could have identified with Tillman. The goal is to raise a minimum of $10,000 by June 30, 2018 at midnight to fully endow the fund. They have raised just over $4,000 so far and the scholarship is 100 percent tax deductible. Tillman was accepted to over ten different colleges out of high school, including Howard University and the University of Michigan. He fell in love with EMU after going on a visit and felt the situation there was better for him financially and academically. Tillman’s family and friends described him as friendly and very giving. And since he loved the college he attended, there would be no better gift than to help other students be able to get an education there. “I think the scholarship is a very awesome thing that the university and the fraternity decided to come together and do,” said LaToya Williams, Tillman’s mother. “I think it’s a really good idea to give back to other EMU students because that’s something that I could see him doing if he was in a position to do.” “Jayquon would be excited about the opportunity and it would be a big thing to him. I’m grateful and humble for the opportunity as well and I’ve been doing a lot of fundraising on my end to support the scholarship in Michigan as well. And I’ll continue to support it and give back as long as they’ll have it at
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Jayquon Tillman Eastern Michigan.” Born in Mississippi, Tillman and his family moved to Ohio in the summer of 2001. He graduated from Cleveland’s John Hay Early College in 2015 at the age of 16. He attended an early college program there which allowed him to graduate high school in just three years. His mother started a scholarship program there called the Jayquon Tillman Memorial Scholarship and gave $1,000 in scholarship money to two seniors. To be eligible for the money, students had to attend John Hay, maintain a 3.5 GPA, plan to attend a two or four-year university or college, and write a 500-word essay on gun violence, explaining how it impacted their lives and how they felt about changing the gun laws. “The response that I got back really amazed me and I was excited about it,” said Williams. “A lot of the kids there are in the early college program like Jay was, so they graduated in three years. Some of them didn’t really know him but some of them did remember him when they were coming in as a freshman and he was leaving as senior. He really had an impact and influence on the people that were around him and he got along with everyone there.” If Tillman’s family and friends were able to celebrate his life under different circumstances, they would. His life was senselessly taken away from him and his murder has yet to be solved. And while losing him has not been easy for those who loved him, they will continue to fight for justice for him and spread his message of togetherness and education. “I would want him to be remembered by the loving and caring person he was,” Williams said. “I want all the people that say they love him to flourish because he was always telling people to flourish and to keep succeeding. I want them to do something positive with their lives, make an impact on people around them, educate people more, and give back as well, just as Jay would do.”
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NABJ meets in a different city every year. This year’s convention will be the first time some journalists have seen the city since Detroit hosted the 1992 NABJ convention. “Detroit has always been a great news town,” said WWJ reporter Vickie Thomas, a member of the NABJ national board. “And that’s why the Detroit Chapter of NABJ and the city were so excited to welcome journalists to the Motor City for the NABJ convention in 1992.” That convention generated a lot of buzz, Thomas said, because it featured a lineup of political, entertainment and sports figures that included then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton, director Spike Lee and tennis legend Arthur Ashe. “As a member of the local board at the time, I just remember everyone being blown away by the convention and the Detroit hospitality,” Thomas said. “We hope to exceed expectations again this year when the convention returns …” The convention, which runs Aug. 1-5, also will feature a 5K run through downtown Detroit, a gospel brunch, and a dinner where journalists receive honors for news coverage and community service. NABJ also will salute its best and brightest, who include new inductees into the NABJ Hall of Fame and Detroiter Jemele Hill of ESPN. “We are pleased to honor hometown hero Jemele Hill as our Journalist of the Year, and offer professional development training topics that cover politics, social justice, investigative reporting, entertainment, sports and education as well as lessons learned from the Flint water crisis,” said NABJ President Sarah Glover, who works for NBC News. Conventioneers also will participate in a day
of service to leave their mark on some part of Detroit. NABJ was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1975 by a group of 44 journalists. Its mission is simple: It doesn’t just train current journalists. It nurtures new ones and advocates for veterans. In its 43 years, the organization has given scholarships to — and helped nurture — hundreds of students through college workshops, high school programs and a student newsroom that allows collegiate journalists to cover each year’s convention. Called NABJ babies, those students learn to cover plenary sessions, interview news subjects and produce television newscasts, a daily newspaper and a 24-hour website. The convention also will boast one of the largest career and exhibition fairs in the country. Dozens of media companies and journalism schools from across the country will set up shop to interview or share information with convention registrants. NABJ has a long-standing reputation as the place where many black journalists landed their first job. “NABJ and its affiliate chapters across the country have a rich and proud history of training journalists,” said Thomas, the WWJ reporter. “... We’re looking forward to seeing what great stories students will uncover here in Detroit!” Kem benefit concert While most programming is open only to registered journalists, there will be several public events including the Kem benefit concert on Friday, Aug. 3 at Chene Park. Concertgoers must purchase tickets at https:// www.nabj.org/page/NABJ18DetroitChapter to benefit the Detroit chapter of NABJ. For more information or to register for the conference, go to www.nabjconvention.com.
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