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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1993)
O c tober 06, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver P age B I Portland 'Dreamers’ To Attend Whitman College In July Laurie Adams, a Whitman student, helps an "I Have A Dream" student, with a papiermache monster in art class Whitman student Laurie Adams in art class Laurie Adams, Whitman student assists in art class Monny Hawkins (left), a Whitman student, and Melanie Ramsey, a Portland teacher, in science class Whitman student Dan Nguyen-Tan discusses an art project with "I Have A Dream" students Whitman student Monny Hawkins helps with a science experiment k *1 W ith h e lp fro m the M e y e r M e m o ria l T ru s t and one o f the le a d in g lib e ra l a rts co lle g e s in the N o r th w e st, 5 0 m id d le school students fr o m n o rth P o rtla n d w il l get a head s ta rt th is s u m m e r in f u lf illin g th e ir dream s o f som eday g o in g a w a y to college. The M eyer M e m o ria l T rust o f Portland recently awarded a $ 120,000 gra n t to W h itm a n College fo r a tw o- year p ilo t project designed to provide an on-cam pus summ er educational experience fo r students enrolled in the P o rtla n d " I Have A D re a m " (IH A D ) program Representatives o f W h itm a n and the IH A D Foundation in Portland announced th e ir new p a rtn e rsh ip M onday, M a y 31, at the start o f an o rie n ta tio n m eeting fo r p a rtic ip a tin g students and th e ir fa m ilie s The evening m eeting took place in the cafeteria o f Jefferson H ig h School P ortland F ifty students fro m six Portland schools w i l l spend from one week to three weeks on the W h itm a n campus in July. Students w i ll live in cam;pus residence halls, take classes in lan guage arts, science, m athem atics and fine arts, and participate in a variety o f fie ld trip s and recreational e xp e ri ences W h itm a n fa cu lty members and teachers from the Portland p u b lic schools w ill teach the classes, and W h itm a n students w i ll serv e as coun selors in the residence halls. A t least tw o IH A D classroom coordinators plan toaccom pany th e ir Portland stu dents to W h itm a n O ffic ia ls at b o th W h itm a n and P o rtla n d 's IH A D F o u n d a tio n a rc h o p e fu l the p ilo t p ro je c t w ill de v e lo p in to an o n g o in g , lo n g -te rm Phil Hopson, an "I Have A Dream" classroom coordinator, helps one of his students in art class approach to im p a ctin g the lives o f ch ild re n in positive ways, and be cause the partners are h ig h ly c o m m it ted to the project and h ig h ly q u a lifie d to run it. “ I th in k w hat interests us about the program is that it is a co lla b o ra tive effort between the IH A D pro gram and sponsors, a p u b lic school sy stem, and a v ery fine private in s ti tution G ostncll said We arc very happy to sec the number o f private in stitu tio n s,' that are developing a stake in and co m m itm e n t to the edu cation o f lo w -in co m e m in o rity stu dents." Whitman professor David May helps in science class h ig h er education “ W hen 1 firs t came to W h itm a n , wc looked at ways o f im p ro v in g the college's position on issues o f m in o r ity e nrollm ent, and wc recognized very early that it d id n 't make much sense for us to compete w ith every other college and u n ive rsity in the country that is try in g to attract stu dents o f c o lo r," M a x w e ll said W e lo o k e d at lo n g -te rm needs o f society and the lo n g -te rm goals o ft h c co lle g e , and it w as very cle a r the real issue w as d e v e lo p in g p ro d u c tiv e and c re a tiv e ap p ro a ch e s to Language arts class stu d e n ts.” B ria n Gabbard, associate d ire c to r o f adm ission at W h itm a n and the weekend on the W h itm a n campus last sum m er Some o f those students w ill return to W h itm a n th is summer project coordinator, describes the sum “ A num ber o f the students w ho came last sum m er sent w onderful thank you notes," M a xw e ll said "T h e mer program as one o f em otional and academic enrichm ent for the students "M a n y o f these young people w ill be first-generation college students, and we w a n t them tobccom c fa m ilia r and c o m fo rta b le w it h a c o lle g e setting. "Gabbard said “ We want to b rin g dow n the psychological b a rri ers. and w h ile that is very im portant, we also want th is to be a rigorous academic program . We want Io help develop their intellectual curiosity and aspirations as w e ll as th e ir c o n fi most consistent theme was ‘ I ' l l be back ' M any o f them said. ‘ We had a w o n d e r fu l tim e , it w a s v e ry in te re s tin g vvc re a lly lik e d the people and vvc ca n ’ t w a it to come back “ P h il H o p s o n .o n e o fth c IH A D p ro je c t c o o rd in a to rs , to ld me his students ask h im every day ab o u t c o m in g b a c k to W h i t m a n , ” G a b b a rd said “ E very day flic D avid E. M a x w e ll, an active p ro ponent o f m u ltic u ltu ra l campus d i e n la rg in g the re la tiv ely s m a ll n u m b e r o f m in o rity students w h o c o n tin u e in to h ig h e r e d u c a tio n . W ith in versity d u rin g his fo u r years as presi th a t co n te x t, w c v ie w e d the “ I H ave dence in th e ir a b ility to satisfy those aspirations." interest created fro m th a t one w e e k end w as p h e n o m e n a l.” dent o f W h itm a n , said the college A D re a m ' p ro g ra m in P o rtla n d as sp e a king d ire c tly to the issue as w e phrased it. and we began to lo o k fo r Encouraged by several o f its Port- land-area a lu m n i. W h itm a n began w o rkin g w ith Portland s IH A D Foun T h is su m m e r, a p p ro x im a te ly h a lf o f the 5 0 students c o m in g to w ay s in vv Inch w c c o u ld add d im e n cer fo r M eyer M e m o ria l T rust in Port Foundation, an o rg a n iza tio n d e d i cated to encouraging and supporting sions o f e xp e rie n ce and e xp e rtise dation tw o y ears ago on possible p a rt nership program s As the p la n n in g W h itm a n a rc fin is h in g the s ix th grade T h e y w ill spend one week. J u ly 5 -1 1 , on ca m p u s. T h e o th e r land. said the new partnerships is y oung. econom ically -disadv autaged attractive because it takesa long-term m in o rity students in th e ir pursuit o f to th e ir cITorts and increase the chances fo r success am o n g th e ir effort became more focused. 25 m iddle school students from Portland spent a h a lf is c o m p le tin g the seventh grade and w ill stay on cam ps fo r three p a rtn e rs h ip , and th a t the su m m e r re s id e n tia l p ro g ra m w ill e v e n tu a lly serve as a m odel fo r s im ila r c o lla b o ra tiv e e ffo rts betw een c o l leges and IH A D fou ndat ions aron ltd d ie c o u n try G lo ria Cost neli, a program o ff i com m unity is enthused about its new partnership w ith P o rtla n d 's IH A D w eeks, July 12 th ro u g h A u g . l. M o s t o f t h c p a rtic ip a tin g students a rc fro m T u b m a n M id d le S chool S tu d e n ts a ls o a rc c o m in g fro m W h it a k e r M id d le S chool and Fcrnvvood M id d le S ch o o l, a m o n g others E ugene M L a n g , fo u n d e r and p re sid e n t o f the n a tio n a l IH A D F o u n d a tio n , v is ite d P o rtla n d 's p ro g ra m last y ear and serv ed recently as c o m m e n c e m e n t s p e a k e r at W h itm a n 's M a y 23 g ra d u a tio n cerem onies I ang received an h o norary d o c to r o l h um ane le tte rs degree d u rin g W h itm a n 's co m m e n ce m e n t c e r em onies In a d d itio n , re tire d P o rt land sch o o l su p e rin te n d e n t M a t thew P ro p h e t, w h o serves as h o n orary c h a irm a n o f P o rtla n d 's IH A D F o u n d a tio n , re ce ive d an h onorary d o c to r o f e d u ca tio n degree, as d id Janine P ease-W indy B o y . fo u n d in g p re sid e n t o f L ittle B ig H o rn C o lle g e
