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Professors William Slomanson and Maurice Dyson honored student Sajad Husain at CLIMB's Culture Night on Thursday, Oct. 18, with an award for his contributions to the creation of the CLIMB Program at TJSL.

CLIMB, which stands for the Crawford Legal Institute & Mentorship Bond is a program initiated by TJSL’s Diversity Committee.  In the CLIMB program, TJSL students work very closely with Crawford High School students and become role models and mentors to them.  Crawford students are frequently invited to Culture Night events on campus and TJSL students and professors often visit the Crawford campus to speak to and interact with the high schoolers.

The award presented to Husain reads, "As the founding member of CLIMB your countless hours of hard work and dedication assisted in the creation of a program that actively contributes to the empowerment of the youth at Crawford High School through providing mentorship, leadership, and professional development. Your exceptional ability to inspire and lead was instrumental in the creation and implementation of the eight different sub-programs within CLIMB. 2010-2012".

Husain, who is known around TJSL as “Mr. Sid,” expressed surprise at receiving the award and praised others for contributing to the success of CLIMB.

“I did not expect to receive this honor and I really appreciate it,” said Husain.  “It was due to the brilliance of Professors Slomanson and Dyson that CLIMB was created. It was the work of Clinton Minus, who assisted with the creation of CLIMB and managed all of the programs and Program Leads as the Program Coordinator from October of 2010 until Fall of 2012. It was Alex Partida, CLIMB's Youth Empowerment Coordinator, who took my philosophical and visionary thoughts and put them into words and programs on paper. It was Diana Vasquez, the current Executive Consultant of CLIMB, who did all of the marketing as CLIMB's Marketing Coordinator. And last, but not least, it was the work of Rosanna Barajas, one of the five founding members of CLIMB, who held everything together and kept everything organized as the Administrative Lead of CLIMB.”

Husain also acknowledges other TJSL support, including the Diversity Committee, Events, Communications, Admissions, Financial Aid, the Academic Support Staff (Donna Gehlken, in particular), IT and the many professors and other TJSL students who have made CLIMB a successful program.

"Mr. Sid has been a committed and consistent presence in the lives of CLIMB students and has earned their admiration and respect," said Professor Dyson. "He has made a significant impact upon them and with CLIMB's ambitious initiatives, organization and law student volunteers."

“The Crawford-TJSL CLIMB project got off the ground, and continues to flourish, because of the behind the scenes guidance provided by Sajad Husain,” said Professor Slomanson. “We, and the youth of Crawford, owe a huge thank you to ‘Mr. Sid’.”        

“CLIMB is changing the world by empowering the lives of young people of color who are not being provided with an equal opportunity to succeed in life,” explains Husain. “If you want to change the world, and make a name for yourself at TJSL and in the community, join CLIMB.

If you are interested in providing equality in opportunity, please contact Lee Vernon, the Program Coordinator of CLIMB.”