We were the incoming class of 2007. Aspiring filmmakers at Columbia University School of the Arts (SOA). We were told that our class was the most diverse in SOA history at the time. We felt special and we became a more collaborative cohort because of it. From the film set to the edit room, we banded together to make our creative visions real. And when one of us became sick with cancer, we came together again.

It was during Bobby’s last visit with our cohort in Los Angeles that the seed to create a memorial scholarship was planted. Bobby was happy. Not focused on his illness, he was embracing life. We want to remember our friend that way.

We are a committee of Bobby's friends who believe in the work that he was attempting to do in his lifetime, and witnessed the challenges he endured getting there. In the end, we lost someone we loved, and we are honoring his memory in the way he would have wanted, a way that will bring more unique stories into the world.

Columbia Film Incoming Class of ‘07 and Friends--

Gina Atwater, Chanelle Elaine, Morgan Faust, Rory Haines, Jayda Imanlihen, Alexandra Jamison, Kristie Lutz, Olivia Newman, Veronica Nickel, Bryan Parker, Bobby Poole, Shukree Tilghman, Laurie Thomas, and Shawn Wines.