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CJ’s Story Is Being Heard: Thank You to Audacy’s Campus Files

Nearly two years ago, our family’s world was shattered. On July 10, 2024, our son, Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr. walked onto the campus of Bucknell University full of dreams, full of heart, and full of life. Two days later, he was gone.


From the very beginning, we made a promise: we would not be silent. We believe CJ’s death did not have to happen. The Campus Files episode is titled “100% Preventable” and those words reflect what we have believed from the very beginning. As long as we have breath, we will keep saying his name and telling his story because if his story saves even one life, then his light is still shining forward.


We are incredibly grateful to share that CJ’s story is being heard on a national stage again.


Thank You, Campus Files & Audacy


On April 8, 2026, Audacy’s Campus Files: Scandals, Secrets & Crimes at American Universities released a 31-minute episode dedicated entirely to CJ’s story.


The episode is titled “100% Preventable”: The Death of Bucknell Football Player Calvin Dickey Jr. and those three words say everything.


The team handled CJ’s story with the care, seriousness, and depth it deserves. This is a nationally distributed, award-recognized investigative podcast, and the fact that they chose to dedicate a full episode to CJ to our family’s fight for truth means the world to us.


We want to extend a very special thank you to Margo Gray, who reached out to our family directly and invited us to be part of this episode. Margo, your compassion, your professionalism, and your genuine desire to get CJ’s story right came through in every conversation. You didn’t just cover this story, you cared about it. And that made all the difference to us. We are deeply grateful to you.


To the entire Campus Files team: thank you for helping us reach people who may never have heard CJ’s name and hopefully putting it before: coaches, athletic directors, parents, athletes, people who need to hear this story.


Our Call to Action: Please Listen and Share


We are asking everyone in our community, everyone who has followed CJ’s story, donated to the foundation, cheered on our scholars, or simply held us in your hearts, to take one action today:


Listen to the Campus Files episode. Then share it.


Share it with a coach. Share it with an athletic director. Share it with a parent whose child is about to go off to college to play sports. Share it with anyone who has the power to make sure the next CJ Dickey is protected.


🎙️ Listen on Spotify:


🎙️ Listen on Apple Podcasts:


We carry CJ forward. Every single day.


In Calvin’s Honor.


The Dickey Family


To learn more about sickle cell trait and athlete safety, visit:


 
 
 

Dreams Shouldn’t Be Deferred Just Because You Can’t Afford Them

When people talk about money in college sports these days, the conversation almost always starts in the same place: big-time Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, seven-figure collectives, and high-profile football and basketball stars.


What often gets lost in that noise are the thousands of student-athletes who don’t play under the brightest lights, who don’t have booster-funded collectives behind them, and who are still fighting for a chance just to get on the field at the next level.


Those are the athletes we’re thinking about when we open applications for the CJ Dickey Foundation 50 for #50 Athletic Scholarship.


The NIL era: a blessing for some, not a lifeline for all


NIL has absolutely changed lives. For the first time, college athletes can legally earn money from endorsements, appearances, camps, and social media. That’s progress.

But the truth is, most of that money is NOT reaching the average college athlete.

Industry estimates show that the vast majority of NIL and new revenue-sharing dollars flow to football and men’s basketball, especially at the biggest Division I programs. Other sports the ones often called “non-revenue” or “Olympic” sports are left to split a small fraction of what’s left. Source: SportsEpreneur+2NIL NCAA+2


At the same time, federal lawmakers and athletes are already warning that this new financial model, layered on top of existing gaps, is putting pressure on smaller programs and non-revenue sports. Some athletes are worried about cuts to teams, travel, and basic support the very things that make their dreams possible in the first place. Source: Senate Commerce Committee


So while headlines talk about million-dollar NIL deals, a lot of student-athletes are still just trying to figure out how to pay tuition, buy books, and afford a meal plan.


The scholarship math almost no one talks about


There’s another piece people don’t always see: the scholarship math.

  • Only about 2% of high school athletes will receive any kind of athletic scholarship to play in college. Source: NCAA+1

  • Of those who do, many get partial scholarships, not full rides.

  • Division III schools can’t offer athletic scholarships at all, though many provide academic or need-based aid.


And then there’s the academic side. A lot of outside scholarships require very high GPA's  3.5, 3.8, even 4.0 or higher. But if you’ve ever watched what a committed high school athlete’s week really looks like à 5 a.m. lifts, late-night games, travel tournaments, rehab appointments,  you know how hard it can be to keep up with that standard, even when you care deeply about your education.


That doesn’t mean these students aren’t serious about school. It means the system wasn’t really designed with their reality in mind.


Why the CJ Dickey Foundation exists


Our son, Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr., loved the game of football. He worked for years to earn his opportunity to play at the college level to be part of a team, to compete, to grow. He never got the chance to fully live out that dream.


The CJ Dickey Foundation was born out of that heartbreak and out of our determination that other kids would have doors opened, not closed, because of a lack of money.


The 50 for #50 Athletic Scholarship does two things at once:

  1. Honors CJ’s legacy  his work ethic, his big heart, and his belief that dreams are worth chasing.

  2. Pays it forward by helping student-athletes who have earned their shot to play at the next level but are staring down the reality of college costs.


We know not every deserving athlete comes with a 4.5 GPA, a highlight reel that’s gone viral, or a full-ride offer on the table.


Some are walk-ons hoping just to make the travel roster. Some are role players in sports that don’t have big TV contracts. Some are students who’ve had to fight through family responsibilities, health challenges, or under-resourced schools — and still show up, on the field and in the classroom, day after day.


Those are exactly the students we want to reach.


Dreams shouldn’t be deferred because you can’t afford them


We believe this with our whole hearts:


A dream to play college sports should not die just because the finances don’t add up on paper.


That’s why, thanks to the generosity of our community, we will be able to award five Tampa Bay student-athletes with scholarships totaling $5,000.  


This scholarship is not meant to replace a full ride. It’s meant to bridge a gap to help cover a housing deposit, books, travel, or the thousand little costs that can stand between a student and their dream.


Every dollar is a message:You matter. Your dream matters. We see your work, and we believe in your future.


Applications are now open

Applications for the 2026 50 for #50 Athletic Scholarship are now open.

  • Who can apply?

    Tampa Bay graduating high school seniors in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties who plan to attend college and compete in any sport at the next level (any level à JUCO, NAIA, D3, D2, or D1). Click here for the full scholarship terms.

  • Application deadline: January 15, 2026

  • Winners announced: National Commitment Day – February 4, 2026


If you’re a student-athlete reading this and wondering if there’s a place for you in the NIL era, we want you to know: there is.


If you’re a parent, coach, counselor, or mentor, we’re asking you to share this opportunity with the young people in your life who might not see themselves in the headlines, but who show up, work hard, and dare to dream anyway.


Because in Calvin’s honor, we are paying it forward — so that other student-athletes can not only make it to the next level, but truly live their dream once they get there.


👉 to apply click HERE.  

 
 
 

Statement from the Parents of Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr. – Why We Released the Billboard Campaign



On September 26, 2025, we should be celebrating our son Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr.’s 20th birthday. Instead, we are marking one year and three months since his death after collapsing during his very first football workout at Bucknell University’s Pascucci Family Athletics Complex.


CJ was only 18 years old. He never had the chance to begin his freshman year, to celebrate another birthday, to see the future he worked so hard for, or to play even one snap of collegiate football. His life was cut short during a workout that, based on what has been reported, did not follow established safety protocols for athletes with sickle cell trait and the known risks of exertional sickling and rhabdomyolysis.


In CJ’s honor, we have launched a billboard campaign near Lewisburg, where Bucknell University is located. These billboards call on Bucknell to release the independent report into what happened to our son.


Just weeks after CJ’s death, Tufts University faced its own crisis when dozens of men’s lacrosse players fell ill from exertional rhabdomyolysis and nine were hospitalized. Tufts responded swiftly: the President announced an independent investigation, released an executive summary within months, and committed to policy changes to protect athletes going forward.


Bucknell has not taken similar steps. The University had eight months before we filed suit to share information, yet there has been no full account, no transparency, and no answers to our questions about what happened on day one.


CJ suffered for two days as his body shut down — kidney failure, metabolic crisis, sickling events, hypovolemia, muscle breakdown requiring surgery, and five cardiac arrests. He had to be sedated, and in his final hours he no longer recognized us as his parents. We and his sister sat by his side, praying for a miracle. This was a horrible death that no child should endure and no family should ever have to witness.


Any parent would want a full account. Any parent with a child in a sports program would want to know how this happened and what the university is doing to ensure it never happens again.


On what should have been CJ’s 20th birthday, we are standing up because he cannot. By sharing our pain publicly, we hope others will see that this is not just our family’s tragedy — it reflects a broader failure of accountability that affects every parent who entrusts their child to an institution.


Our billboards are not simply signs — they are our voices for CJ. They remind us that silence is not accountability. To our knowledge, no one has been held accountable. Last season, there were no suspensions while the school claimed to be investigating, and play continued as though CJ had never collapsed on campus and lost his life.


We call on the Bucknell community — its students, alumni, faculty, and supporters — to stand with us in demanding transparency, accountability, and change. Bucknell’s own mission speaks of a commitment to the “ethical dimensions of life.” This is one of those moments. We implore the University to live up to that mission by ensuring CJ’s story is not buried in silence but becomes a catalyst for truth and reform.


It begins with one step: release the independent report, share what happened, and commit to change. As a beloved son and brother, CJ will never be forgotten. How Bucknell responds to his death will not only define its integrity today — it will shape its legacy for generations to come.

 
 
 
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