Dedication to Service, Academic Excellence Earns KeJuan Jones Top CSU Trustees Award
KeJuan Jones rarely lets an opportunity to be of service pass him by.
Whether tutoring younger students through community organizations, serving as a peer mentor on and off campus, or helping to distribute toiletries and food to people in need in his hometown of Long Beach, the Cal Poly Pomona biotechnology sophomore feels called to lend a hand wherever he can.
In fact, it is how he was raised.
Jones grew up watching his grandmother in service to her community and accompanying his father, a nonprofit director, as he helped those experiencing homelessness and low-income families with food and housing resources.
“Seeing how blessed people feel when you help them, helping others just makes you feel good,” he said. “If you have the ability to help somebody, do it. I look for opportunities to do more. I grew up with that example.”
Jones’s academic achievements, grit and service to community and fellow students have been rewarded, earning him the 2026 CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement. He will receive $20,000 as the Ali C. Razi Scholar, the top CSU Trustees’ award, recognizing the student with the highest distinction. It is a scholarship typically awarded to upperclassmen and graduate students.
The CSU Trustees’ Award is given each year to one student from each of the 22 California State University campuses based on factors including academic achievement, financial need, excellence in community service and personal hardship.
Jones, a sophomore, said he was “super surprised” when he heard he received the Razi scholarship, which is typically awarded to juniors, seniors or graduate students.
“I was truly happy,” he said. “All the volunteer work I have done so far has equipped me to make it through school, and receiving this scholarship has made me feel good that the work and long hours I have put in have been meaningful.”
The Language of Kindness
The scholarship also will go a long way towards making college affordable for Jones, who is one of four boys his single father is raising. His twin brothers Kristopher and Cameren are freshmen at University of Nevada, Las Vegas and San Francisco State, respectively. Younger brother, Abel, a senior in high school, is up next.
Jones’s father, Russell Jones, adopted all four boys. KeJuan was 2 when he was adopted.
“My dad has four kids to pay for college, so I try to seize every opportunity and dollar I can,” he said. “Any scholarship I get means less money out of both of our pockets that we have to pay.”
The younger Jones works around his Cal Poly Pomona class schedule. He works for the Long Beach Workforce Innovation Network, formerly known as Future Long Beach, as a paid tutor but also volunteers when he maxes out on his work hours. Over the summer, he mentored 25 students online for the Child Mind Institute, a global nonprofit based in New York and San Francisco focused on helping children with mental health challenges and learning disabilities.
He also serves as a biology learning assistant. He works as a teaching assistant for Environmental Biology Assistant Professor Paul Beardsley for his Biology 1210 course and tutors students in the Biology Learning Center
This semester, he will take on paid research position as part of the CSU STEM Pathways and Research Alliance (CSU-SPaRA) program. As part of the faculty-mentored undergraduate program, Jones will work with Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Sury Jha’s in her lab focused on plant cell biology research.
Jones, whose Christian faith also guides him, is keeps up with his commitment to serve. In addition to tutoring and mentoring other students, he assists with food distribution, participates in beach cleanups and volunteers at the library and at his church. He recently was selected to serve on the city of Long Beach’s Youth Advisory Council for 2026-27. On campus, he is a peer mentor with I Am First.
He often does more than expected. While volunteering for Food Finders, an organization linked to the Port of Long Beach that collects surplus food from grocery stores and distributes it to people in need. Jones collected information about allergies, as well dietary and religious restrictions, and put it into an Excel spreadsheet to aid with distribution.
Jones said the idea for the spreadsheet was born out his desire to respect people’s preferences and give those he serves the dignity that comes with not being forced to eat whatever is handed to them.
“It’s really about helping others. My dad has also shown me how you learn to see people outside of their circumstances,” Jones said of the reward that comes with service. “Each person has their own name and own story. My dad always says, ‘We may not all speak the same language, but kindness and respect — everybody understands that.’”
A Family Legacy of Service
Kindness and the desire to help others is a trait inherited and inspired by grandmother Jackie, Russell’s mother.
When KeJuan was in elementary school, Jackie underwent a heart and kidney transplant and had a long recovery. KeJuan would wash and fold her clothes with no complaint, according to Russell, who quickly noticed his eldest son’s spirit of service.
“Ever since he was a little boy, he had the sweetest heart,” Russell said. “I remember he always wanted to help. At one time I had three in diapers and one on the potty, and he would run back and forth, bringing me what I needed. He would always be wanting to take care of us.”
Russell, who works at the Long Beach-based nonprofit Family Enrichment and Housing Development Corp., recalled how his mother once sewed uniforms for a local cheer squad that couldn’t afford them. In her work at a Maritime company, she once advocated for a group of stowaways who came to the United States by ship.
She told Russell and his brothers, then teenagers, to pick out some of their clothes to donate to the young men.
“We all gave up some of our best stuff because we always saw my mom giving her best to others,” Russell said. “She has taken kids school shopping and has slid money to their parents. She has been an example, and that’s why I work for a nonprofit and my children have given up their holidays to help me serve food.”
A Future in Science
It was his grandmother’s struggle with health issues that fueled KeJuan’s interest in the sciences. He attended the California Academy of Mathematics and Science high school on the campus of CSU Dominguez Hills.
He took biotechnology classes in high school and researched bone deterioration associated with lupus and one of its main treatments. He also did a research project that involved detecting Wolbachia bacteria in Armadillidium vulgare, commonly known as a pill-bug or roly-poly.
When it came time for college, Jones received a full-ride scholarship to Cal State Long Beach but opted to come to Cal Poly Pomona because of the reputation of the biotechnology program. KeJuan said his dad encouraged him to follow his passion and told him he would find the funds to make Cal Poly Pomona happen.
“I made the right choice,” KeJuan said. “I don’t regret it at all.”
He participated in RISE in summer 2025, a program that helps high school seniors and college freshmen adjust to university life, which he credits with helping him get acclimated to campus with ease.
He has a deep interest in medical research and development, as well as environmental sustainability.
Graduate biology student Sara Witt was KeJuan’s lab instructor last year. She described KeJuan as diligent, hardworking and always engaged. The lab course requires focus and self-motivation, both qualities KeJuan has, she added.
“One thing that was special about KeJuan was that he was always helping other students,” Witt said. “Students work in small groups of two or three on dissections. He was very collaborative in his group, rotating among the students, making sure everybody got a chance to see the details of the anatomy.”
As he looks toward a career in medical research and development, KeJuan sees another opportunity to serve — this time through science.
For someone raised to look for ways to help others, he said, the path feels like a natural one. At Cal Poly Pomona, KeJuan uses the experience from every class, lab and connection to help him become the person he dreams of being.
“I try to do the most I can with the time I have because it doesn’t take a lot to help somebody,” he said. “It just takes you doing it. Over time, it becomes much easier to help people on a bigger scale.”