{"id":160943,"date":"2020-05-12T07:50:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T11:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=160943"},"modified":"2020-05-11T16:05:34","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T20:05:34","slug":"schola2rs-house-academic-social-success-first-cohort-students-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2020\/05\/schola2rs-house-academic-social-success-first-cohort-students-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"ScHOLA2RS House an Academic, Social Success as First Cohort of its Students Graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, about half of UConn\u2019s black male undergraduates were leaving campus before earning a degree. They were talented and motivated, but represented only about 3 percent of the Storrs student body and often struggled to meet friends and mentors who could relate to their experiences.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When UConn pondered ways to retain those promising students, the result was innovative and controversial: It created a Learning Community for black male undergraduates and other students interested in their experiences, designing it to include social and academic wrap-around services to help them remain and thrive at UConn.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In fall 2016, the <\/span><\/span>ScHOLA2RS House<\/span><\/a> was launched: the Scholastic House of Leaders in Support of African American Researchers & Scholars.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And on Saturday, the first freshmen who took a chance on the new Learning Community graduated with their bachelor\u2019s degrees, many of them already heading to prestigious employers, graduate programs, and medical school.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first cohort of freshmen and sophomores who joined the <\/span><\/span>Learning Community<\/a><\/span> in fall 2016 are on track toward an 84 percent six-year retention and graduation rate, on par with UConn\u2019s overall student body rate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A few hours after the University\u2019s commencement ceremony Saturday, UConn Learning Communities and ScHOLA2RS House participants gathered virtually for an <\/span><\/span>online celebration<\/a><\/span>, including congratulatory comments from President Thomas Katsouleas and reflections from the students and those who\u2019ve worked closely with them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is no small thing for anybody. You\u2019ve all done yeoman\u2019s work, and congratulations,\u201d Michael Bradford, department head and professor of dramatic arts, who is also faculty director of ScHOLA2RS House, told the graduates during the event.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI also want to say thank you, because you have blazed a path and added to the foundation. You\u2019ve made it known to everyone coming behind you that this is the way to succeed,\u201d Bradford told the graduates. \u201cBecause of you, the foundation of ScHOLA2RS House is unbelievably strong.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thirty-three participants in ScHOLA2RS House have earned bachelors or advanced degrees so far, including 20 in <\/span><\/span>Saturday\u2019s ceremonies<\/a><\/span> who joined as freshmen and sophomores during its first year. Others who were upperclassmen when the Learning Community was launched and served as floor mentors or resident assistants had graduated in past years, with most continuing to post-graduate work.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore ScHOLA2RS House, UConn was losing these great students. And now, we are graduating these great students,\u201d Katsouleas said Saturday. \u201cThank you for being pioneers, and thank you for being UConn Huskies \u2013 I couldn\u2019t be more proud of you.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Erik Hines, the ScHOLA2RS House inaugural faculty director when he was on faculty at the Neag School of Education, met the students when they were freshmen and sophomores who were considering with their families whether to join the new Learning Community.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was a leap of faith. The program, while based on strong academic pedagogy and research on student success, drew criticisms \u2013 and more than a few race-based slurs — from some people outside of the UConn community who misunderstood its purpose, underestimated its students, or painted it as new-age segregation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The reality was quite the contrary: Its students have studied abroad in places such as Brazil, London, and Prague; enrolled in challenging graduate school programs; have been selected for UConn\u2019s Leadership Legacy Experience program; served as mentors in their residence halls and academic departments; and have been officers in a wide variety of campus groups.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The program has also built strong relationships with Connecticut\u2019s representatives in Congress and alumni in Washington, D.C., through the group\u2019s visits there to attend meetings of the Congressional Black Caucus and UConn alumni receptions. The first ScHOLA2RS House students were also guests at the opening ceremony of the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture in September 2016.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Learning Community is now well established in a groove of regular activities that start every fall with a welcoming ceremony that includes new students\u2019 families, faculty and staff from throughout the University, and other friends of the program.<\/span><\/p>\n