Charlize Angel LaTonya Gilliam was passionate about life, people and especially her education. In 2017, Charlize earned two high school diplomas from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and went on to pursue a nursing degree at Morgan State University. Although she battled both lymphoma and leukemia as a freshman and sophomore in college, she never ceased from pursuing her desire to become a pediatric oncology nurse.
Because of her commitment to education and her 3.8 grade-point average, Charlize was inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success. She was a member of the National Council of Negro Women and a continued recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship. Charlize passed on May 23, 2020, but posthumously received an honorary Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from The John Hopkins University.
Gifts to the Charlize Angel LaTonya Gilliam Nursing Award will support those Towson University students pursuing those career paths about which Charlize was so passionate. Charlize's mother and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. line sisters are Towson University alumnae and founding donors to this scholarship.