Nikitta Foston
                                                                                                Public Relations Coordinator
                                                                                                District 227

Rich Central Student, Dexter Canty, is Gates Millennium Scholar

             Out of more than 13,000 applicants, Dexter Canty, a senior at Rich Central High School, was awarded the coveted Gates Millennium Scholarship, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The highly-acclaimed award includes ten years of full tuition coverage for bachelors’, masters’, and doctoral level studies.

  “My first reaction was tears,” Canty said. “I never thought college would be a reality for me because my family’s financial situation hasn’t been very stable,” he revealed, admitting that he had to drop out of a catholic high school during his freshmen year because his family was unable to make the tuition payments. “I received straight F’s for my freshmen year. So, when I came to Rich Township, I had to work really hard. And I did. I got straight A’s.”

 Indeed, the University of Illinois bound scholar touts an impressive 3.8 cumulative GPA, a 4.5 current GPA, is ranked #19 in his class, and still makes time to work six days a week at AMC theatres – helping his mom to support their now single-family household. With invitations from Howard, Harvard, University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois, the Political Science major decided on U of I for his undergraduate studies.

 “I want to attend Harvard for law school,” Canty said, who says that his goal is to become a Supreme Court Justice where he will take a special interest in contract law. “There are so many minorities who are swindled out of their money. Everyday, people lose what they’ve worked so hard to attain, basketball players, singers, and everyday people, all because they are unaware of contract law or they lack the legal counsel to protect their interests.”

 I’d like to change that. And indeed, he will.