The Boston Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) recently awarded Sawyer Business School student Raymond Kaniu the Lucille P. Butler Scholarship.

The award, presented at the NAACP Boston Branch Centennial Celebration, provides tuition assistance for African American students majoring in Accounting. Kaniu was one of only two students selected for the award in the Boston Metropolitan area.

Myra Lerman, assistant dean of Undergraduate Programs and director of Honors Programs at Sawyer Business School describes Kaniu as “brilliant, creative, intellectually curious, with the ability to dig deeply into issues; a self-directed honors scholar, outstanding student leader, and person of great humanity and integrity.”

Kaniu skillfully balances a rigorous schedule, which includes full-time coursework, co-curricular activities, community volunteer positions, and part-time work.

Kaniu is a member of the Griffin Honor Society, which includes just nine percent of Sawyer Business School undergraduates. He has received the Griffin Manning Award for academic excellence in Accounting. He is also on the Deans High Honors List and a member of the Delta Alpha Pi Academic Honorary Society.

At Suffolk University, Kaniu has held several leadership positions, including Treasurer of Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting Honor Society), Membership Chair and Liaison for the Suffolk Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants, Board Member of the Sawyer Business School Student Executive Council, and UN Student Ambassador to the United Nations Association of Greater Boston.

Kaniu is also active within his community. He mentors high school students at the PCEA African Imani Church, he is a member of the Boston Network for International Development, and he volunteers for the Boston NAACP and Red Cross.

Kaniu has worked part time as a direct care professional at the Cooperative for Human Services in Burlington, Massachusetts, and at Toward Independent Living and Learning in Dedham, Massachusetts. He plans to pursue a graduate degree next year.

According to Lerman, Kaniu demonstrates “exceptional intellectual, interpersonal, and leadership talent in his studies, in the campus community, in the world of work, and in the community at large.”