The high school GPA average for incoming freshmen in the 2010-11 class of Centennial Scholars is 2.7, said Dorsette. For him, the long-term success of the Centennial Scholars will be those same young men marching across the platform in May 2013 to lay claim to their diplomas. Dorsette would like to see NCCU “brand” Centennial Scholars in a way that it draws young men to apply for and attend the university. “I want them to think that, ‘Yes, I know they have the Law School, I know they have BBRI (the Biomedical / Biotechnology Research Institute), but I want to go to NCCU because they have the Centennial Scholars Program.”
For Rome, whose vision birthed Centennial Scholars, success was “when I heard the conversation change.” More and more, students were talking among themselves about what grades they received on exams, which courses they were planning to take, and even saying, “I want the highest GPA in the program.” “It’s changed the conversation and the culture,” he said. “They are creating a culture of success.”
“I attended Morehouse, and it is renowned for raising up African-American male leaders,” he said “But I don’t think that Morehouse is the only institution that can do that. I think North Carolina Central University can do the same thing; can raise up African-American young men who achieve great things in the business world, who can go on to any professional school that they’d like to, who can excel in academic research and scholarship. Who have an impact on the world.”
Rome, of course, wants more. He wants to transform NCCU into a school that transforms young men.
First in Flight
A new program helps first-generation college students, and their families By Paul V. Brown, Jr.
Centennial Scholars isn’t the only program on campus aimed at ensuring success for African-American young people. This fall, North Carolina Central University launched First in Flight, a program designed to help 25 males who are the first in their families to go to college, and to help their parents as well. It’s the first such program in the nation. The students and their families will receive mentoring, social networking support and crash courses in financial literacy. They will be guided through the university’s financial aid system. Parents will also be assigned mentors — another NCCU parent or a faculty or staff member who recently parented a first-time student — to help them be involved actively and positively in the child’s schooling and social development. The mentors will remain with the parents throughout their students’ college careers. Participants were picked from communities no more than a 45-minute drive from campus, so that parents can profit from visits from mentors and NCCU administrators, and draw upon resources from local agencies and programs. U.S. Department of Education data shows that students whose parents did not attend college are less prepared for higher education, take fewer math, science and humanities courses than their peers, struggle to choose a major and require more remedial course work. Many of NCCU’s first-generation collegians have provided financial and emotional support for their families, said Tia Marie Doxey, NCCU’s director of student life assessment. The program may help the families learn how to balance their needs with the promise of their students’ educations. First in Flight is supported by a $10,000 grant by the College Board’s Greenhouse program. If the pilot program is successful, the university hopes to find funding to continue it next year. Now Magazine
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