Chicago Teen Turns Down $80K Scholarship To Avoid Violence

Lander Braggs was a model student: making good grades, involved in school and staying out of trouble. So when it came time to pick a college, many schools came knocking, including one prestigious Chicago school that came with an $80,000 free ride. But the 17-year old African American high school senior says he gave up that scholarship because of the city’s violence.

Braggs, who wants to study engineering, says he turned down a full tuition $80,000 scholarship to attend the prestigious Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) because he fears becoming a victim of Chicago’s inner city violence. He says that at first he was very excited about being offered the scholarship, but then he changed his mind.

He comments, “I’m just thinking, like, I don’t want that for me. I want to be able to just go through life and not have to worry about what’s going to happen to me tomorrow. With all that’s going on in Chicago, with all the violence and everything, I just wanted a different environment.”

He also told reporters that he knows that crime can happen anywhere and he realizes that some people won’t agree with his decision, but he is doing what’s comfortable for him. He also says he hopes that this brings much-needed attention to the impact that violence has on young African-American men like himself.

Braggs’ mother Nicole Howell says she fully supports his decision. She says says she can’t…

…put a price on her peace of mind. She comments, “If I have to pay something that’s fine. I don’t want to have to look at my watch and say its 3:30, 4:30 I haven’t heard from him and worry everyday if he’s safe.”

Both Braggs and his mother say they’re sharing their story because it shows another way that violence impacts black teens who are trying to do the right thing. He has accepted a scholarship to Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. That scholarship only covers tuition, and his mother says she is confident she can figure out a way, using loans and other means, to pay for room and board.

She’s says she’s just glad he’ll be safe.