08/29/2020
When Erica Daley ’96 was a first-year student at USF, she received a scholarship that helped pay for her education. A descendent of enslaved people, the scholarship donor and her entire family had received a college education ever since slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865. Although Daley never met her donor, she was inspired by that story of perseverance and generosity.
“My donor paved the way for me. I realized it was important to start planting seeds and support young people advancing themselves, their family and our society,” said Daley.
In 2016, the same year the Black Leadership Network (BLN) was founded, Daley created the BLN/Erica G. D. Daley Scholarship for minority first-generation college students. “I wanted to make sure there was a fund geared specifically for them,” said Daley who was a first-generation college student herself.
Now the chair of the USF Black Alumni Society, Daley hopes that the recipients of her scholarship pay it forward by planting seeds for those who come after them.