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CHICAGO - Gregory Calloway, retired Associate Executive Director of Finance of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ (ALA) will be raising funds for ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship Program by participating in the Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate in Evanston, Ill on June 19.

“Today more than ever, awareness of and actions to promote diversity and inclusion are extremely critical to the betterment of our society. Supporting Spectrum is more important now than ever! Join me in the fight against all kinds of harmful…isms,” said Calloway.

The Race Against Hate was founded in memory of Ricky Byrdsong, former Northwestern University Basketball Coach, Vice President of Community Affairs at Aon Corporation, and Skokie resident who was murdered by a white supremacist in 1999 while walking in his neighborhood with two of his young children. On the same day, the shooter also wounded nine Orthodox Jews and killed a Korean graduate student. Because of Ricky's lifelong love of sports and his compelling work with young people in the community, the Race Against Hate was launched by his family and friends in 2000 (and entrusted to the YWCA Evanston/North Shore in 2007) to honor Ricky's legacy and bring attention to the need to combat hatred in all its forms.

The Spectrum Scholarship Program recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and the Association. The program aims to increase the number of racially and ethnically diverse professionals in the field of library and information science to best position libraries at the core of today’s culturally diverse communities.

From 2001 to 2009, Gregory Calloway ran five marathons in support of Spectrum. Upon retiring from ALA, he participated in the 2015 Race Against Hate and raised funds to establish the Calloway Spectrum Scholarship with the support of his family. The fund supports individuals applying to the Spectrum program who have a background or interest in combining their LIS career with the arts or African American studies. Spectrum Scholars are selected on the basis of demonstrating superior leadership skills and a passion for community involvement. Additionally, the Calloway Spectrum Scholar will convey the ability to overcome adversity in their life and to achieve success after overcoming setbacks in their business, school, family or career goals.

To learn more about the Spectrum Scholarship Program, please contact the Office for Diversity at (800) 545-2433, ext. 5048 or visit .

Donate at or mail checks (payable to ALA-Calloway Spectrum Fund) to the ¾«¶«´«Ã½Development Office, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

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