Eboni Boykin gained attention for attending

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

despite a severely disadvantaged high school experience. Her story of earning a full scholarship to an

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

university, after spending some of her high school years homeless, circulated as an inspirational narrative. She was used as an example in a

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

textbook to illustrate the social control theory of crime (with Boykin's success proving that "a strong bond to society" can prevent

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

). The wide press coverage of Boykin's story was held as exemplary of the way news stories describe primarily white institutions, but not

historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

, as the real "liberators of Black students who are low-income and first-generation, despite HBCUs catering to these types of students for decades." Boykin successfully graduated from Columbia in May 2016. In 2016, Boykin wrote and directed a short horror film called "Afterbirth."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boykin, Eboni Columbia University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people