The Tahir Koylass Outstanding Scholarship Award

Honoring a Legacy. Opening Doors. Changing Lives.

For the past 11 years, we have carried forward the legacy of my son, Tahir Koylass, through something that continues to give life to others—education.

To date, through this scholarship, we have raised over $65,000 and supported 26 first-generation college students on their journey to higher education.

Students who are often navigating this path for the very first time in their families. Students who have the drive—but not always the resources. Students who just need someone to believe in them.

This year, I almost didn’t do it.

Grief doesn’t leave. It shifts. It settles. And sometimes—it rises.

As we approach Tahir’s birthday on April 2nd and the anniversary of his passing on April 24th, I felt it in a way that made me want to pause everything—to step back from the work of organizing, fundraising, and carrying what this requires.

I told myself: Maybe this is the year we take a break.

Then I Got a Call On a Wednesday morning, in the middle of that heaviness, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. I answered.

It was Nneka Jones, a former scholarship recipient.

She’s graduating this year. She didn’t call because she had to—she called to say thank you. She shared how much the scholarship meant to her— how it supported her, carried her, and made a difference in her ability to stay the course.

And in that moment, everything became clear.

This is not just a scholarship.

This is impact.

This is continuity.

This is legacy in motion.

What This Scholarship Represents.

The Tahir Koylass Outstanding Scholarship Award is more than financial support.

It is:

Each student represents possibility—and each contribution helps move that possibility forward.

Grief and Purpose, Side by Side

There is no version of this work that exists without grief.

We carry Tahir with us every single day.

And yet—this scholarship has become one of the ways we continue to live with that loss.

Not by moving on.

But by moving with it.

Each year, this effort gives shape to something that cannot be fixed.

It allows us to transform grief into action.

Pain into purpose.

Loss into something that still gives.

This is how we honor him.

This is how we keep his name alive.

This is how we continue forward.

We are continuing this work—because it matters.

Because students still need support.

Because stories like Nika’s remind us what is possible.

Because legacy is not what we say—it’s what we sustain.

Your contribution—at any level—directly supports first-generation college students and helps us continue this work in Tahir’s name.

If this resonates with you, we invite you to:

Together, we continue something bigger than all of us.

In honor of Tahir Koylass

April 2nd | April 24th