RAAA will once again participate in Rutgers Annual Giving Day scheduled for Tuesday, March 24. After a very successful third place in the newcomers leaderboard challenge during the 2020 RU Giving Day event, RAAA now sets its sights on securing funding for the newly created RAAA Nasir R. Shakir Memorial Fund along with the RAAA Rites of Passage Graduate Scholarship. RAAA secured an additional $5,000.00 for the scholarship for its placement on the newcomers leaderboard. Our 2021 goal for each of the scholarships is to raise $25,000 during the 24 hour event. We ask that each donor reference President Jonathan Holloway and/or RAAA in the “in honor of” category.
Our ”IGot5OnIt” campaign provides everyone the opportunity to support this greatly needed initiative to provide undergraduate and graduate scholarship opportunities. We ask all of our community members to contribute at least $5.00 dollars or multiples there of that include the number 5, such as $5, $25, $50, $75, $100, $250, $500, $1,500, etc. We recognize that some of our community members may want to do more, and we welcome and encourage you to be creative and generous in your giving. Your contribution can be a one-time donation or a recurring one, however your budget and love leads you.
The RAAA Rites of Passage Scholarship is awarded to a Rutgers undergrad continuing their graduate education at Rutgers University. This scholarship currently stipulates that an award will be provided to (1) graduate for each of the three campuses. The newly created RAAA Nasir R. Shakir Memorial Scholarship Fund will be administered by M.E.E.T./School of Engineering under the direction of Dean Ilene Rosen (Honorary Lifetime Member of RAAA).
The RAAA Nasir R. Shakir Memorial Scholarship Fund was created in remembrance and reflection of Nasir’s generous spirit. He mentored many of the young Black men and women he encountered. He also supported and sponsored Black college students through the National Society of Black Engineers as a means to pay forward the guidance and support his mentor, Dean Donald Brown at Rutgers University, gave to him. As he was an Engineering and EOF student as well as very active in the MEET/NSBE organization at Rutgers, the scholarship is directed towards undergraduate students in these spaces. Nasir passed away on November 1, 2020 at the age of forty-four.
#RAAARitesOfPassageGraduateScholarships #RAAANasirRShakirMemorialScholarshipFund #IGot5OnIt #RUGivingDay #WeRTheBelovedCommunity
Dr. Juanita Jones Daly – Founder of the Rites of Passage Ceremony 
The Late Nasir Shakir 
RAAA Rites of Passage Scholarship Awardee 
Prosper Delle – Inaugrual RU-Newark RAAA Rites of Passage Scholarship Recipient -2019