Make a gift to honor Tiana Lynn Cunningham

Established in 2021, the Tiana Lynn Cunningham Scholarship supports a female undergraduate or graduate student, who identifies as Black or African American, has a GPA of 3.0 or greater, and is a graduate of a high school in the State of Colorado.

Tiana was a fun-loving young woman, who enjoyed life, loved to laugh, and loved those she encircled. In her free time, she enjoyed conversing with family and friends, sports, cooking, and listening to music. She was full of life and brought life to every social gathering. She was the type of person who could make a stranger feel welcomed and touched everyone who she met. She was truly the epitome of a caring and devoted friend. To know Tiana was to love her.

Tiana received her early education by graduating from Rangeview High School in Aurora, Colorado where she became an outstanding student athlete. She was a captain on both the Varsity Basketball and Track teams and encouraged all of her teammates to push for success. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado and was currently working on her master’s degree in Communications.

Tiana chose to attend UNC because it was a great university with a stellar curriculum and wasn’t too far away from her family and younger sisters in Aurora. She later chose to pursue her master’s to honor her father, TJ Cunningham, who passed in 2019 shortly after she graduated with her bachelor’s. She always quoted him telling her that “Education is Power and the key to success.” She enjoyed her time at UNC getting involved with multiple extracurricular activities and organizations including the Black Student Union as well as making many lifelong friends and connections.

While not in college, Tiana was working an internship at North Range Behavioral Health as part of their Marketing and Public Relations program while working 2 jobs. She was extremely hard-working, dedicated, and performed her commitments with a spirit of excellence. She was close to her co-workers, and they treated each other like family. 

Tiana sadly passed away in a car accident in July 2020. This was a tragic loss to all of her family, friends and everyone that knew her.

The Tiana Lynn Cunningham Memorial Scholarship was established by Tiana’s family to honor her legacy and allow her to continue to be a big sister forever, by helping other women of color on their paths to success.

Thank you for making a gift to the Tiana Lynn Cunningham Memorial Scholarship at UNC. Please select your donation options below. Contact donor.relations@unco.edu with any questions.