Runners Gather for Annual Ferguson Run in New York City
Brownsville, Texas – August 4, 2008 – Close to 600 runners and walkers gathered at the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City Sunday, August 3 for the Keith A. Ferguson Memorial Run/Walk. The event benefits the Keith A. Ferguson Scholarship Fund for Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. 
Ferguson is the son of Sonia Cunningham, a nursing professor at UTB/TSC. He was a member of the elite New York Police Department Hercules Counter Terrorism Team.
In January 2004, he suffered a heart attack while responding to a fellow officer’s call for back up. While chasing a suspected illegal street vendor on foot, Ferguson collapsed and died. He was 38 years old.
Within days of her son’s funeral, an event that drew 10,000 mourners to a church in Manhattan, Cunningham had launched the scholarship fund in honor of her beloved oldest child.
“I don’t want Keith to be forgotten,” Cunningham said “Someone in the future may say, ‘I got a scholarship to go to college’ and they may mention Keith’s name. I’ll be happy with that.” 
Today, the endowment is valued in excess of $60,000 and more than a dozen students have been awarded scholarships. Two years ago, Cunningham gave herself a new goal of raising $500,000 for the Keith A Ferguson Endowed Chair for Criminal Justice, which would be the first endowed chair for the department.
The run/walk is traditionally held several days before Ferguson’s birthday on August 8. He would have been 43. His fellow officers have not forgotten him. Many of them will again participate in the event.
“Time goes on and people move on. It’s the nature of all us, in our work and in our lives, “said Detective Joe Penny of the NPYD. “ But every year, knowing this run is coming up, it reminds us of all the good memories that we have of our friend, Keith.”
For more information, call Barry Horn, Assistant Vice President for Development, UTB/TSC Institutional Advancement Division at (956) 882-4322 or barry.horn@utb.edu