Encino : Memorial Scholarship Aids CSUN Minorities

It’s been four years since his life was tragically cut short by a heart attack at age 26, but Steven Pushkin is not forgotten. A scholarship fund named for the Cal State Northridge business graduate will sponsor its third annual fund-raising picnic Sunday.

Starting at 9 a.m. with a non-competitive “fun run and walk,” the “Push for Education” event will take place at Encino’s Balboa Park, 17015 Burbank Blvd. The picnic itself will begin at 11:30 a.m.

The cost is $30 general and $15 for students and children 12 and older. All participants will receive a T-shirt, Ruth Pushkin, Steven’s mother, said.

According to Julie Lichtenberg, director of development for the School of Business Administration and Economics, the Steven M. Pushkin Endowment was created in 1992 to benefit incoming freshmen participating in CSUN’s minority business program. The fund provides a year’s tuition--roughly $1,800--for two students each year, she said.

“My son was a very liberal kid who felt bad about people who didn’t have the opportunities he did,” Ruth Pushkin said in explaining the fund’s creation. The scholarships are typically awarded to African American and Latinos, she said.

Since 1986, the minority business program has worked with Los Angeles high schools to recruit people of color to study business at CSUN. Lichtenberg estimates that nearly 500 students currently participate in the program.

“I just can’t tell you how nice it is to see a family who doesn’t know any of these individuals want to do something for them,” she said.

For more information regarding the Steven M. Pushkin Endowment, call (310) 208-3111.