An Outstanding Emory Citizen

From the moment he arrived on campus, Emory senior Christopher Richardson made service and leadership a hallmark of his college experience. His dedication and hard work earned him the 2003 Lucius Lamar McMullan Award, which comes with $20,000, no strings attached.

The award, endowed by Emory alumnus William L. Matheson in honor of his uncle, is given to a graduating senior who exhibits “outstanding citizenship, exceptional leadership, and potential for service to his or her community, the nation, and the world.” The donor’s intention was to allow a student to do something he or she would not otherwise be able to.

“I have had an incredible, wonderful experience at Emory, and I am humbled to have received one of the University’s greatest honors,” says Richardson, who has not yet determined what he will do with the award.

As president of Emory’s Student Government Association in the 2002-03 school year, Richardson oversaw a fourteen-person cabinet, a three-person staff and $1.7 million budget, and represented eleven thousand students to the University community and administration. He also served as Emory College Council president his junior year.

Richardson was a member of the inaugural class of the Kenneth Cole Fellowship for Community Building and Social Change, a year-long program designed to prepare students to be comunity leaders. Richardson’s work on low-income housing was featured in the spring issue of Emory Magazine.

“The Kenneth Cole fellowship built upon what I had learned in other courses, and put it into action, making me even more committed to working on issues of community building and social change for the greater good,” Richardson says.

For the next year, Richardson will work with low-income cancer patients in Atlanta with former Gov. Roy Barnes and Atlanta Legal Aid, rather than accepting a Bobby Jones Scholarship to the University of St. Andrews.

A history and political science major, Richardson has been a Rhodes Scholar state finalist, a Truman Scholar, and the recipient of one of Emory’s Humanitarian Awards, which recognize students who embody the spirit of volunteerism and community.

Richardson, who is from Charleston, S.C., also is a bone cancer survivor, and has worked with the American Cancer Society and Camp Happy Days and Special Times for children with cancer. He is a member of the Society of African-American Leaders and a member of Emory’s presidential search committee.