Washington Adventist University Partners with Steve Francis to Launch the Steven Francis Scholarship Fund

Washington Adventist University and three-time NBA All-Star and Takoma Park native Steve Francis have launched the Steven Francis Scholarship Fund, a new initiative opening doors to higher education for young people from the community that raised him and honoring the memory of the woman who raised him first. The fund was unveiled at the university's 13th Annual Visionaries Gala.

Long before "Stevie Franchise" became a household name, Francis was a kid growing up behind what was then Columbia Union College, lacing up his sneakers for church league games at Metro Seventh-day Adventist Church. It's the detail he returns to most when asked where his love of the game truly began, not an AAU circuit or a big-name gym, but a church league court, played for the joy of it.

"Growing up in Takoma Park, you had your heroes: the people you saw working in the community as police officers and firefighters. But very seldom did we have athletes who came from where I came from," Francis said. "There was always a place we could go play basketball, and that was at Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist University."

That bond with the university never faded. Years later, as scouts and general managers descended on the D.C. area to evaluate the presumptive No. 1 pick of the 1999 NBA Draft, Francis chose to hold his pre-draft workouts right there on the campus he'd grown up beside, a full-circle moment that still shapes how he thinks about giving back today.

"When I had my private workouts before the NBA, I felt compelled to have the teams interested in me come see this little town in Takoma Park," he said.

But the deeper roots of this fund trace back to loss. At 18, just as he was preparing to leave home for junior college, Francis buried his mother who was his best friend, after her battle with cancer. It was the hardest moment of his life, and one he has spoken about candidly ever since: how it forced him to grow up fast, to carry his family forward, and to fight for opportunities largely on his own. That fight is the reason the Scholarship Fund exists. Francis has said his mother was his first believer, the person who made higher education and a better life feel possible before he ever touched a basketball at the collegiate level, and this fund is his way of making sure other young people in Takoma Park don't have to make that fight alone. "Full circle, here at Washington Adventist University, we asked: What could I do to give back to this community that loves me so much?" Francis said.

To launch the Steven Francis Scholarship Fund, five $5,000 scholarships, $25,000 in total will be awarded to students pursuing higher education. While rooted in his hometown of Takoma Park, the fund is not limited to Montgomery County alone, it's open to students across the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) and beyond. Additional details on eligibility and the application process will be announced in the coming weeks.

"It's not just for sports, and it's not just for males. This school has a lot to give!" Francis said. "I want to say thank you to the University for recognizing me for this. This is only the beginning."

 Cheryl Harris Kisunzu, interim president of Washington Adventist University, said the fund reflects a commitment to making sure students' ambitions are realized. "Langston Hughes challenges us with the following enduring question: 'What happens to a dream deferred?' If he knew Steve Francis, I suggest to you that he would never have written that poem, because Steve Francis, legendary basketball player, citizen of Takoma Park, friend of Washington Adventist University, is committed to ensuring that dreams are not deferred," Kisunzu said.

"It is for this reason that at the university's 13th Annual Visionaries Gala, he launched the Steven Francis Scholarship for students who, through this fiscal empowerment, will learn and will celebrate the enduring reality that not only are they champions on the court, but they are champions in life. For this empowering commitment, we will forever say thank you to Steve on behalf of the students and constituents entrusted to our care here at WAU, as we create competent moral leaders for such a time as this."

Washington Adventist University is a private university with a liberal arts tradition, offering a dynamic blend of professional and liberal arts undergraduate and graduate programs. Founded in scenic Takoma Park in 1904, it is owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and offers a Christian education to students of differing faiths from around the world. Its vision is to produce graduates who bring competence and moral leadership to their communities. Student Success is the highest priority.