Recipient, William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement
San Diego State University

Khadija Cunningham has always lived in the same North Park/City Heights community in San Diego. She comes from a single-parent household and has not seen her father since she was nine years old. She helps her mother by watching her little brother and works to help pay the household bills. Currently, Khadija is completing her first year at San Diego State University and is a sociology major. She has a deep concern for the betterment of her community, particularly in regard to access to quality education. She is heavily involved in ACORN (Association of Community Organizing for Reform Now). Khadija anticipates graduating in 2009 and plans to obtain her master's and doctoral degrees in sociology. Ultimately, she wants to be able to continue her work in community development and teach as a professor at the university level.