CONGRESSWOMAN JOHNSON CHOOSES NEW CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION (CBCF) SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE

Dallas, TX - (Wednesday, September 08, 2010) Congresswoman Johnson announced the new CBCF Scholarship Committee today that will take over deciding which future students living in the TX-30 District will be CBCF Scholarship Fund recipients.

The new CBCF Scholarship Committee:

Ms. Mavis Knight presently serves on the Texas State Board of Education with extensive experience in community support and more than 30 years of volunteer service working with civic and education organizations that provide mentoring and other services to youth, families and seniors. Ms. Knight has also served as secretary of the State Board of Education.

Mr. Randy Skinner serves as the director of the Greater Dallas Area Justice Revival. Mr. Skinner leads the adopted initiatives centered on safe homes, safe schools and safe communities. He also serves as a consultant to non-profits, government agencies and churches in the arena of urban transformation. Mr. Skinner is an advocate for justice committing to bringing about a change in the dismal issue of child abuse and offering positive alternatives to communities plagued with poverty and crime. He is also recognized for his work in Civil Rights cases in the African-American and Hispanic communities and presently serves as Chairman of the City of Dallas Ethics Advisory Commission, appointed by Mayor Tom Leppert.  

Mr. Roscoe C. Smith, Ph.D. has dedicated his life to service. Dr. Smith began his career in education as a Health and Science teacher in 1958. He soon was recruited to become a teacher in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and climbed the ranks to become the Director of Accountability in the DISD Central Office in 1970. Dr. Smith was the first African-American in Dallas to receive the “Outstanding Young Educator of Dallas” award presented by the Dallas Junior Chamber of Commerce and Classroom Teachers. He has designed and installed operations planning for the first Council Parent Advisory Council for DISD and it was recommended to Congress and President Nixon as a model for the nation by the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children. Dr. Smith was also the liaison between all the schools in District 30 and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson in 1998 and retired in 2005 receiving the Special Congressional Recognition for Outstanding and Invaluable Services to the Community.

Mr. Raul M. Magdaleno is the Director of Diversity & Community Outreach for Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts. The vision of Mr. Magdaleno’s department is to connect the Southern Methodist campus to the Greater Dallas community and has provided opportunities for to more than 1,600 internationally-focused organizations representing people of different religions, ethnicities and beliefs with the goal of building a bridge of understanding and inclusiveness. Mr. Magdaleno also leads the first Hispanic Youth Institute. The institute’s programs have offered opportunities to more than 200 low-income high school students with the resources to achieve a college education, pursue a professional career and invest in their community as volunteers and leaders.  

Dr. Al Roberts is Professor Emeritus, Division of Education at Paul Quinn College. Dr. Roberts has been an active and dedicated Dallas educator for more than 20 years. He is active in a myriad of civic and community organizations. Dr. Roberts was nominated for the Ford Foundation Urban Educator Administrator Fellowship and is listed in the Who’s Who among Black Americans and Who’s Who in American Education just to name a few.

“The new CBCF scholarship Committee consist of respected and qualified educators who care about the future of our children,” said Congresswoman Johnson. “They are eager to spread the word to students about the CBCF Scholarships.”  

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a senior member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which, includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.