Young, Member of Honors College demonstrates Scholarship, Leadership, and Comradeship

Derrick Young, Jr. - Honors College Member

Derrick Young, Jr. was recently selected to be highlighted along with 2 other students for their leadership roles with the Pro-Israel UNIFY project by The Israel Campus Coalition. The Israel Campus Coalition created a short video of the 3 students who attend Northwestern, Princeton and Grambling State Universities respectively. The video demonstrates their campus initiatives and leadership with the Pro-Israel project. Young currently serves as the campus coordinator for UNIFY, a pro-Israel group at GSU. For the last three years he has been an activist for the State of Israel and has worked to build other pro-Israel activists. Young’s objective as an activist is to educate others of the strong U.S.-Israel relationship, create other activists, and gain support from political leaders.

In addition to his work with UNIFY, Young was also chosen as an intern for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Selected as one from thousands of applicants nationwide, he was placed at the University of Michigan for 3 months to conduct intense research on obesity, HIV and AIDS, tobacco and drug use, and other major health disparities faced by U.S. citizens. Because of his impressive ability to diagnose problems in our country, Young was later selected among 24 other young adults from across the country to be part of the National Minority AIDS Council.

Young seeks to encourage others by being a positive role model and mentor to his peers. He has held to the same insightful adage of both the late President John F. Kennedy and current President Barack H. Obama have expressed in their inaugural addresses, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

Derrick is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and resident of Kansas City, Missouri. He began his tenure at Grambling State University (GSU) in the fall of 2011. Derrick, a distinguished member of the Earl Lester Cole Honors College is majoring in psychology and is scheduled to graduate in May. He has been accepted to Tufts University School of Medicine in the Master of Public Health program.

Dr. Ellen D. Smiley, Dean of the Earl Lester Cole Honors College, stated that the students, staff and faculty of the Earl Lester Cole Honors College are extremely excited about Derrick’s work, recognition, and admission to Tufts. He truly exemplifies the meaning of our motto – Scholarship, Leadership, and Comradeship. Derrick is a true scholar and leader.

###

Media Contact:
Office of Communications
318-274-2866
mediarelations@gram.edu