"It takes a big burden off of me in terms of paying for school," Littlejohn, now a sophomore, said by telephone. "But also, it's a big network and a big family. . . . We all talk about what we're doing. We talk about our grades. We talk about our worries."
Starting with one scholar in 1973, the year after Robinson's death, the foundation that bears his name now provides funds for 266 students at 93 colleges and universities in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Over the last three decades, more than 1,200 students, mostly African American and Latino, have attended college, with a 97 percent graduation rate.
Most of the students receive an annual $10,000 scholarship. Another 35 students receive an endowed scholarship from donors who make a onetime investment of $200,000 into a fund that generates income to support a scholar in perpetuity.
Royce Clayton, former major leaguer Mo Vaughn, and Michael and Juanita Jordan have each funded an endowed scholarship, as have the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, the Texas Rangers, and Major League Baseball.
Robinson's old team, the Dodgers, is providing scholarships for 22 students this year in affiliation with the Robinson Foundation through its Dodgers Dream Foundation.
The foundation also provides money for graduate students and has an international fellowship program named for Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson's widow and the founder of the foundation.
Students are chosen not just because of their academic record, said Della Britton Baeza, the foundation's president and chief executive officer. They also have to have displayed a commitment to community service and demonstrated significant leadership skills. Once in the program, they must write annual reports about what they're doing in the community.
