In an effort to encourage Chicago-area high school students to apply to college, approximately 360 members of the Urban Students Empowered program were brought to campus Friday for tours, student panels and performances.
US Empowered is a program in Chicago public high schools which aims “to lead underperforming students in low-income schools to enroll in and graduate from college,” according to its mission statement. The program assigns teachers to work with these students for a portion of the school day for three years, and all of the students participate in 2-3 conferences every year, said Joanna Rudnick, director of conferences and partnerships.
Friday’s event was hosted by the Associated Student Government and is in its third year at NU. In its first year, the event brought in 70 students, growing to 125 students last year and reaching a record high of 360 students this year from 13 different Chicago high schools, said ASG President Claire Lew.
It also used to be an overnight event, but as the number of attendees increased, housing all the visiting students was no longer feasible. This year, the day of events ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rudnick said the increase in participants was due to the growth of the US Empowered program, which now serves 550 students in the Chicago area.
“It’s an event that I always look forward to because of the tangible effect it has on these students, as well as furthering our commitment to minority involvement,” Lew, a SESP senior, said.
Friday’s activities kicked off with a welcome presentation in the Technological Institute’s Ryan Family Auditorium, followed by a guided scavenger hunt that took students to major campus resources like Norris University Center, the University Library, the Rock and Searle Hall. For many of the students, this was their first time seeing the NU campus.
“Y’all got lots of guests coming here and a bunch of fun experiences,” said Vanessa Ledford, a junior at TEAM Englewood Community AcademyHigh School. “I like the Rock and the lake. Our mentor was great and kept the whole group talking.”
In the afternoon, students broke off into discussion groups for an hour at five different locations throughout campus, during which they could ask questions of student speakers. Lew said that ASG chose students they knew had compelling personal stories.
Main topics of discussion included the best way to study for standardized tests, how to write a college essay, how to manage the application process and how to choose a major.
“We just want them to get the experience of understanding the application process, finding resources on campus and hearing firsthand accounts of college students and how they coped with certain roadblocks on the way to success,” Rudnick said.
Aasha Dunson, a junior at Corliss High School, called the event “inspiring.”
“It’s encouraging for me to see a college, so I can succeed in life,” she said. “I am definitely going to apply here.”
Because the audience was largely composed of minority students, the panel speakers also addressed the importance of diversity on college campuses. NU’s class of 2014 is 21 percent Asian-American, 9 percent Hispanic, 7 percent African-American and 7 percent international students.
SESP senior Rosey Martinez, who came from a high school with a lot of minorities, said her adjustment to NU was “a bit of a culture shock.”
“Sometimes I was the only minority in a class (here),” Martinez said. “But one thing I learned to do was use it as an advantage. You bring something to a classroom that no one else is bringing, and you should take pride in that.”
High school students were led around campus by 30 mentors who applied online and were selected by ASG.
“It’s important to see what college life is like,” said Benjy Leibowitz, a Weinberg freshman who showed students around campus. “Familiarizing yourself with this can make the college searching process a lot less intimidating.”
