C.T. Vivian Foundation Golf Outing to finance scholarships

MACOMB (WGEM) – The legacy of a civil rights leader and Macomb native lives on this Saturday in the form of a fundraiser.

Proceeds from the third annual C.T. Vivian foundation golf outing will provide scholarships to local students. The event will also launch a $3 million capital campaign to construct the C.T. Vivian Center For Civic And Social Engagement at the site of his childhood home on E. Adams Street.

The facility will honor Vivian’s relentless advocacy for equality. The Macomb native worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2013.

Spaces are planned for music lessons, broadcasting seminars, keynote speakers, cultural arts education, and more.

Most importantly, the building will provide a safe space for students to discuss contemporary issues regarding race, ethnicity and acceptance.

“The vast majority of what we should do should be focused on building a future,” said C.T. Vivian Foundation President and Founder Byron K. Oden-Shabazz. “And if we’re going to have children that understand what happened in the past to make the future better, we have to create a space for that.”

Oden-Shabazz also hopes to have the site registered as a stop on the Civil Rights Tour once it’s built. The current target date for completion is 2029.

Anyone interested in playing in Saturday’s golf outing can register online or in-person at the time of the event. Tee time is set for 10 a.m. at Western Illinois University’s Harry Mussatto Golf Course.

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