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Students, educators, researchers, and policy experts convened at the restaurant Busboys & Poet’s located in Washington, DC’s for a town hall forum on higher education and to highlight the findings of the recent Washington Bureau report “From Access to Completion: A Seamless Path to College Graduation for African American Students." “Mama I Made It,” the title of the evening’s program, is a play on the popular phrase often used by low-income underserved young men and women in social media to highlight the milestone of college graduation.
The town hall featured a student panel featuring both high school students and college graduates and was followed by panel featuring policy experts in the higher education space The program ended with a special a presentation by the Department of Education, on financial aid.
The student panel was moderated by Juana Summers an education reporter with NPR. The panelists, Deon Jones, 2014 graduate of American University, Valencia White, who graduated from Alabama A&M University in 2013, Mahni Hellams of Eastern Senior High School, and Kaija Pack of Benjamin E. Mays High School—both high school seniors-- discussed the issues the face in navigating the college admissions process and what supports might make the process smoother for those going through it today.
Many of the concerns shared by the students were reflected by the National Urban League’s research and policy recommendations proposed in From Access To Completion, Dr.Greg Carr, Associate Professor and chair of the Department of Afro American Studies at Howard University moderated the expert panel, which included Erika McConduit-Diggs, President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, Marcie M.W. Foster Senior Policy Analyst at CLASP, and Jose Luis Santos, Vice President of Higher Education for The Education Trust organization.
Ms. McConduit Diggs discussed the community-based organization approach that the Urban League has taken in affiliate offices nationwide, providing students with personalized solutions to their needs as it relates to college success. She emphasized her success with the Project Ready STEM program, and shared information on the efforts being made by the Greater New Orleans Urban League affiliate to dual-enroll their students in college courses.
If you were unable to attend, the video of the “Mama I Made It” will be available on the Washington Bureau website in the coming days.
To read the full report click here and to see images from the event click here.
