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AWARD DINNER FOR WORLD’S TOP BLACK BANKER RAISES NEARLY $I MILLION FOR CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY

By Nii Okaijah

CHICAGO:- At a fabulous award banquet held September 7 in honor of Jacoby D. Dickens, chairman of Seaway National Bank, the world’s largest black-owned bank, Chicago State University raised a record $999,000 for student scholarships and technology improvements. When Katey Assem, the Ghanaian executive director of the CSU Foundation made the announcement at the 6th Annual Friends of CSU Award Dinner, attendees numbering over 800 people from the city’s civic, corporate and legislative communities broke into enthusiastic cheers. The goal of the fund-raiser was $500,000.

Guests included Illinois Senate Minority Leader Emil Jones Jr.; Cook County Board president John Stroger; Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White; State Senators Lisa Madigan and Barack Obama; Federal Judge Blanche Manning; State Reps. Monique D. Davis and Constance A. ‘Connie” Howard; Alderman Fredrenna Lyle; Chicago Urban League President James W. Compton; Rev. Willie Barrow, board chair, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; Illinois Poet Laureate and Distinguished CSU Professor Gwendolyn Brooks; Don Perkins, retired chair of Jewel Companies; Joseph E. Jannotta, Jr., retired chairman, Wright/Jannotta Bray; Cordell Reed, retired senior vice president, Commonwealth Edison, noted physician Niva Lubin, and Chicago Park District Commissioner Dr. Margaret Burroughs.

Combining wit and humor, Mr. Jacoby Dickens Emmy award-winning TV anchor Robin Robinson of FOX News Chicago emceed the stellar evening. Joset B. Wright, president of Ameritech Illinois, served as dinner chair. CSU President Elnora Daniel made a special presentation to honoree Dickens for donating the largest individual gift in the school’s history. Dickens has donated more than one million dollars to CSU. Daniel described dickens as a legend and CSU benefactor. “Jacoby is an embodiment of quiet generosity. He is a gentleman in the true sense of the word,” she said. CSU Board of Trustees Chair Lubin also described Dickens as “the most treasured person, a man whose commitment and generosity to CSU precedes him. His life shows that the Lord is in the blessing business, and CSU has been blessed with him.”

In response to the speeches and a video presentation hailing him, Dickens noted that he is “CSU’s first honoree in the new millennium.” Asserting his love for CSU, he said amid cheers, “In my life, I have made many investments, but CSU ranks at the top of all my investments.” Dickens said he is motivated to assist needy CSU students who cannot afford the cost of college education. “We want to help our students to achieve the American dream,” he said. Turning to the audience, he proposed that the Annual Friends of CSU Award Dinner be renamed the Annual CSU Stockholders Dinner. “Each person here has an investment in the past, present and future of CSU,” he said.

Guests were treated to a delightful dinner against the background of stimulating musical selections rendered by James Hendrick’s, a former member of the world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, Jakube Felton and Roxanne Stevenson, all of CSU’s Music Department. Popular launch such as “My Funny Valentine,” “All the Things You Are,” and “Stella by Starlight’ filled the evening air.

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