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Students, alumni and staff of the Rutgers College Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) launched a new award named for Richard P. McCormick, father of President Richard L. McCormick. The first Richard P. McCormick Social Justice Award was presented to Jennelle Hunter, a senior at Rutgers College and the Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick, who is enrolled in the EOF program. The award, to be given each year to a graduating senior, includes a plaque and a monetary gift. The elder McCormick received a citation at an Oct. 1 banquet held at the Hyatt Hotel in New Brunswick, recognizing his commitment to programs that were the precursors of today’s EOF.
McCormick began his career at Rutgers as an undergraduate in 1934 and served as a professor, university historian, dean of Rutgers College and distinguished alumnus. In 1969, McCormick chaired a faculty committee convened to respond to African-American student protests. When funding for an initiative designed to assist at-risk students appeared in jeopardy, he supported a faculty resolution that called on members to give 1 percent of their salaries to fund it; about $25,000 was raised. The board of governors and trustees later drew on reserve funds to allow the program to move forward. While participation in today’s EOF program is not limited to minority students, about one-quarter of the African-American and Hispanic students enrolled at New Jersey colleges and universities participate in the EOF program. Students receive academic advising, tutoring, leadership development and career guidance in addition to financial awards.
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