When the nation’s leading organization for Asian-American and Pacific Islander college scholarships convened their annual higher education summit Tuesday in Washington, D.C., they were joined by new staff members, who include the granddaughter of the late civil rights and education champion, Thurgood Marshall.
Cecilia Marshall is now director of general scholarships at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. Many scholarship recipients qualify for Pell Grants, come from single-parent homes or immigrated to this country as teens and have struggled with English as a second or third language. Since its 2003 inception, the nonprofit APIASF has distributed scholarships totaling more than $60 million.
Marshall was only 11 years old when her grandfather died, but nonetheless, can recount how, in the latter part of his tenure as a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, he instilled in her important social justice values.
“He didn’t bring his work home but always felt there was so much more that we as a society had to do to achieve equality,” she says of her grandfather. “He taught me that we can all do better.”
Marshall considers her move to APIASF as a way of getting in touch with her roots. Her grandmother, who still lives in the Washington Beltway area, is a Hawaiian-born Filipina. The younger Marshall also sees her APIASF job as a means “of extending the history of service in my family, even though I don’t have a law degree.”
Most recently, Marshall was a recruiter for her alma mater, Savannah College of Art and Design, an experience that felt particularly rewarding whenever she could help a lower-income student of color secure an admissions letter and sufficient financial aid. “Going to art school isn’t the easiest choice because of the high tuition.”