Campaign to endow Tradition fellowships is goal of Cornell Black Alumni Association

Cornell Black Alumni Association Scholarship Campaign Committee member Antoinette Robbins '85, left, and alumnus J.R. Murray '83, right, flank Harold Tanner, chairman of the Cornell Board of Trustees, at the CBAA banquet in New York City April 8.

More than 200 members and supporters of the Cornell Black Alumni Association Inc. (CBAA), including Harold Tanner, chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees, attended a banquet and award ceremony April 8 at the National Arts Club in New York City to formally kick off the group's Campaign 2000 Scholarship Endowment Fund.

The campaign will culminate at CBAA's next "Update 2000" Reunion on campus.

The association's goal is to raise $250,000 to endow two new Cornell Tradition fellowships in the name of the late, noted historian John Henrik Clarke, who taught at the Africana Studies and Research Center in the 1970s. The group established its first Tradition fellowship in 1989, and to date it has endowed four. Present at the dinner were most of the 11 undergraduates who have received a total of $64,000 in aid from the grants.

Trustee Thomas W. Jones, co-chair and CEO of Citigroup's SSB Citi Asset Management Group, one of the largest asset management firms in the world, serves as honorary chair of the campaign committee, which includes alumni Mario L. Baeza, Austin W. Curtis Jr., James Lowell Gibbs Jr., Toni Morrison, Frank P. Scruggs II and Dennis A. Williams.

Honored at the banquet were James E. Turner, director of the Africana Studies and Research Center, who is celebrating his 30th year at Cornell, and Janice Turner, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. Two alumni paid tribute to both Turners, who served as their mentors.

Linda Gadsby-Baptiste, Class of 1988, of Scholastic Inc. introduced keynote speaker C. Virginia Fields, Manhattan Borough president.

David N. Dinkins, former mayor of New York City, paid tribute to Clarke, who is the subject of a 1997 documentary film, "John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk," produced by actor Wesley Snipes. Sybil Williams Clarke, Clarke's widow, accepted an award. The library at the Africana Center is named for Clarke, who is recognized as one of the architects of black studies in the nation.

Founded in 1976, CBAA's current mission is to promote the professional development of its members and to provide giving opportunities to its members, support for current black students at Cornell through endowment of scholarships and development of other resources and assistance in recruitment efforts.