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Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund for providing a full ride to Alan Newton, who was recently freed after serving a 22-year prison sentence for a crime he did not commit.
Newton was 23 years old when he was given a 40-year sentence for the rape, robbery and assault of a young woman in New York City. Thanks to the Innocence Project at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, Newton was exonerated in July after DNA testing proved his innocence.
While in prison, Newton enrolled in college and is now only five courses away from completing his bachelor’s in business administration. He will attend Medgar Evers College. Newton has said he’s not angry because “if you stay angry, you can’t grow.”
Says Dwayne Ashley, president and CEO of the Fund: “We’re so impressed with his leadership and his tenacity and commitment to put his life back together and to overcoming this injustice. We’re going to be hearing good things from him.”
The TMSF offers financial assistance to students attending the nation’s 47 public historically Black colleges and universities.
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