Lawrence Today magazine, Summer 2005
Lawrence is an active participant in two programs aimed at encouraging greater
diversity in college attendance in Wisconsin.
College Readiness 21, of which Lawrence is a co-sponsor, is a new Northeast
Wisconsin pre-college program administered by the Wisconsin Foundation for
Independent Colleges, Inc. (WFIC).
Designed to help low-income, minority, and first-generation students complete
high school and prepare for post-secondary education, the year-round program
includes visits to college campuses, tutoring, personal and life-skills development,
mentoring, and coaching on college admissions and financial aid procedures.
By mid-March, the program had enrolled 40 freshmen and sophomores from six
Northeast Wisconsin communities. About half of the students are Caucasians,
and the rest are African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans. All are the first
in their families to aspire to attend college. Twenty-five are from Green
Bay, eight are from Appleton, and the remainder are from Oconto, Menasha,
and Fond
du Lac.
CR21 sessions so far have been held at Lakeland College in February, Silver
Lake College in March, UW–Green Bay in April, and Lawrence in May.
Students will attend a summer institute at Marian College in July.
In
another cooperative venture, Lawrence hosted the Northeast Wisconsin Conference
on Minority Participation in STEM Disciplines, organized by the Wisconsin
Alliance for Minority Participation (WiscAMP), an alliance
of colleges
and
universities
that aims to boost the number of underrepresented minorities who receive
bachelor’s
degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math — the STEM disciplines
(pictured at right, Carla Perry,
’05, at the conference). In 2004, WiscAMP received a $2.5 million grant
from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority
Partnerships (LSAMP)
program.
The alliance includes all 13 University of Wisconsin System four-year universities,
Alverno College, Beloit College, Lawrence University, Marquette University,
Madison Area Technical College, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Nicolet
Area Technical College, and the College of the Menominee Nation.
The conference included presentations by Rod Bradley, assistant dean of students
for multicultural affairs, on mentoring minority students and Jodi Sedlock,
assistant professor of biology, on collaboration in science education, as
well as a tour of Lawrence science facilities.
