| Last week, the Pre-college Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence, or PEOPLE Program, as it has come to be called, proudly graduated its first class of scholars from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Program is an ambitious, highly rigorous, scaled-up collaborative initiative between UW-Madison and several school districts across the state of Wisconsin. Last year, the Program reached a milestone when the pipeline was completely full with approximately 1,200 middle and high school students along with undergraduates from freshmen to senior at the University. /PEOPLE Scholars receive in-school enrichment, after-school enrichment and attend summer-enrichment programs at the University. If they apply and are admitted to the University, they receive a PEOPLE Scholarship and they also get additional academic support to help them be successful at the University. Of all of its wonderful achievements, the PEOPLE Program is most proud of the fact that the retention rate for PEOPLE students exceeds that of the overall rate for all students at the University. Despite the fact that many in the current UW administration fail to give me credit for doing so, in all of the things that I have strived to do to promote access and diversity at ALL of the Universities where I have been employed in the last 30 years, I am most proud of the fact that I played the lead role in bringing this Program to the UW-Madison campus. The second most significant achievement that I attained was the hiring of my colleague and best of friends, Walter Lane, Assistant Dean in the School of Education, to be the first Director of the PEOPLE Program. Three main individuals played key roles in conceptualizing the PEOPLE Program: former UW-Chancellor David Ward; PEOPLE Banquet Keynote Speaker and Associate Director of UW-Admissions at the time the Program was created, Cleveland James; and myself while Vice Chancellor at UW-Madison. The person whose leadership moved PEOPLE from concept to reality was Walter Lane. One of the lessons that I have learned throughout my life as an activist and one committed to social justice issues and programs, is the fact that there are at least two types of individuals who make it happen when it comes to promoting change. A key role is played by those who, like our dearly departed Brother Eugene Parks, dare to be audacious, outspoken and who are willing to pursue direct action to promote the good and who don't hesitate to attack and defeat injustices everywhere. Gene, by the way, actually sent me a note and wrote a letter to the editor of a local paper in support of the PEOPLE Program once he became informed about the fact that this huge undertaking was underway. In contrast to Gene, but nonetheless committed to the same progressive outcomes are the "worker bees" -- individuals that labor behind the scenes in the trenches quietly, diligently, tirelessly and without fanfare and publicity to make it happen. Dean Lane is the quiet revolutionary who took a concept and made it into one of the best model programs of its kind in the nation. I know this not only because Walter reported to me for many of those years, but I also know this because individuals from various Universities have called Walter, the staff and myself seeking information about the PEOPLE Program. Walter and I and several staff have also presented on the Program at national conferences. PEOPLE is an elite program that shares company with two other major programs that operate on such a large scale: the Young Scholars Program run by The Ohio State University and the PUENTE Program run by the California State University System. Over the next several weeks, the PEOPLE Program will turn the lily White UW-Madison campus into what appears to be an Historically Black College or University (HBCU), a Tribal College or an Hispanic Serving Institution (H.S.I.) as hundreds of students will be moving from dorm to class to recreational activities. I vividly recall the image of former student leaders such as Diallo Shabazz walking around campus leading groups of 50 to 60 Scholars to their next destination. PEOPLE Scholars take core mini-courses in math and writing. They get an ongoing orientation to life on campus and take coaching tests for standardized examinations used as part of the Admissions process. They work on research projects where they use sophisticated equipment to simulate NASA spacecraft launches. They work on cutting edge research in biomedical sciences. They create films and hip hop CDs, do internships in businesses and industry, create newspapers and magazines where they publish interviews with administrators, politicians and those who fund the Program. As Walter has observed on so many occasions, they walk around campus confident and proud, acting like they know that they belong there! Shortly after the Program reached its foremost milestone of attaining a full pipeline, Walter stepped down from his leadership role as Director of the PEOPLE Program, handing over the reigns to his very capable, talented and committed deputy, Jackie DeWalt. At the banquet celebrating the milestone last year, Walter commented to me, "Paul, despite the odds, we pulled it off. We created a mega Program that is successfully providing opportunity for students of color and the first generation in college for kids from all over the state." I share Walter's happiness with the success of the Program. Both of us are especially proud of the fact that the Program not only targets the best and brightest, but that it also strives to provide opportunity for many students who may not be the most academically talented upon entry, but who, with motivation and perseverance, are able to achieve such that they are able to attend, compete and succeed at some of the most rigorous institutions in the nation. Director Lane has many other outstanding achievements for which he is also very modest. He was and continues to be the first Director of the Posse Foundation Program -- another major Program that I played the lead role in bringing to campus. Posse identifies promising high school seniors from the inner city environments of Chicago and Los Angeles who have overcome major obstacles and exemplified leadership skills. They are given a tuition scholarship and lots of mentoring and support. When the primary benefactor of the Posse Program Wade Fetzer, former Chairman of the UW Foundation Board and the recent fundraising Campaign for Wisconsin, agreed to provide laptop computers for any Posse Scholars with a 3.0 grade point average, Walter approached me and said we must do the same for our PEOPLE Scholars and that is exactly what we did. We raised the funds from foundations, corporations and private donors, and provided scores of laptop computers as an incentive to inspire the scholars to do well academically and that is exactly what they have done. Dean Lane has also been the Principal Investigator for grants from the U.S. Department of Education TRIO Program; which includes the Student Support Services Program housed in the School of Education and the McNair Scholars Program run by the Graduate School. Both of these programs have demonstrated outstanding success, again, in providing opportunities, services, funds for students of color and those who are first generation in college. In the writing of all of the initial grants and the subsequent applications for continuation grants, Dean Lane has had a phenomenal hit rate in that he has never been denied funding for any of them! He has provided a lot of opportunity not only for students but also jobs and long-term job security for a number of UW colleagues as well! Walter is such a modest person that if all of the accolades for his successes are laid out in front of him in a public setting, the humble response that you would get from him is "Who, me?" The students, the graduates, the parents, the staff, and all of the faculty, staff and students who have worked for him in his many endeavors would happily and loudly say, "Yes you!" From someone who knows and who worked with him in the trenches, I proudly say, kudos and many thanks, Dean Walter Lane, for a job well done! |
| The Literary Divide/Dr. Paul Barrows PEOPLE Profile: Hats off to Walter Lane for a job well done! |
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