Early in the morning, on January 16, 1997, Ennis Cosby, the son of famous comedian Bill Cosby, was changing a flat tire on his car when he was shot and killed by a would-be robber. That same day, 17-year-old Corie Williams, the daughter of Loretta Thomas-Davis, also had her life cut short through violence. A senior at Centennial High School in Compton, California, Corie was struck and killed by a stray bullet when a 16-year-old gang member fired a gun into the city bus that was taking the young woman home. She was only a few months away from graduation.
Although these two incidents were unrelated, they were brought together when Bill Cosby called Loretta Thomas-Davis to offer his condolences over the loss of her daughter. This simple act of compassion on the part of Mr. Cosby turned Corie's story from a local news story to a national one. As a result, Ms. Thomas-Davis found herself appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show to talk about her daughter and about the college scholarship she had set up in her honor.
The Corie Williams Scholarship Fund was established only a few days after Corie's tragic death. Thanks to her television appearances Ms. Thomas-Davis began to receive donations from all around the country. "It wasn't a lot of money," says Marsue MacNicol (wife of Ally McBeal star Peter MacNicol), who became involved with the scholarship fund after seeing Ms. Thomas-Davis on Oprah. "From a lot of people it was just $5 or $10. She [Loretta] got money from prisoners, from mothers who had had the same thing happen to them or had lost children at an early age. But still it was only $5, $10 or $25. So initially we had $17,000 or $18,000 to start out with." But it was a start.
Over the past three years Ms. Thomas-Davis, Ms. MacNicol and the other volunteers at the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund have been able to raise over $45,000. Of that $45,000 they have given away $30,000. The scholarships range from $100 to $2000, but even the smallest amount can be of enormous help. "We've never not given something to a student who has applied," says Ms MacNicol. "This is the kind of lovely thing about this. But, for a lot of the state schools, if you get $1000 or $1,500, that not only covers your tuition for the year but it covers your books as well. We tend to give more to the kids who don't have the highest grade point averages. First of all, because Corie was a "C" student, and second, because these are the students who might not otherwise go to school. It is the kids who fall into this sort of middle ground who we are trying to help."
"This was the precedent set from the very beginning and I just love that," continues MacNicol. "Any kid who completes all the requirements, which involves a 2.5 grade point average, and an essay, and recommenda-tions, and they must have been accepted to a college, well, any kid who does all that deserves something." With 25 students currently attending colleges throughout the United States, thanks in part to the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund, it would seem, as one grateful recipient said, that Ms. Thomas-Davis has "kept Corie's spirit alive through students like myself."
If you would like to make a donation to this scholarship fund please contact:
California Community Foundation
445 S. Figueroa Street
Suite 3400
Los Angeles, CA 90071
c/o Agnes Luansing
(213) 413-4130
Checks should be made out to The Corie Williams Scholarship Fund at the California Community Foundation. 
