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