This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 5, 2013: President Obama and the media accompanying him to Galesburg got it right: Folks in my hometown continue to struggle in a stubbornly sluggish economy sapped by the loss of treasured manufacturing jobs. But the president and the journalists missed a great opportunity to brighten the narrative and reinforce his message about prescriptions for progress.
They could have spotlighted an inspired and inspiring town-and-gown partnership that helps disadvantaged youths conquer daunting challenges and become viable candidates for the middle class. Knox College, where the president spoke, has joined with Galesburg public schools and Carl Sandburg College in an extraordinary, if not unique, effort to provide the incentives, support and human touch that can lift those young people out of poverty and help them cope with often-difficult family situations.
Each year, a committee taps a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of 15 promising eighth-grade students to become Gale Scholars, eligible for tuition-free educations at Knox or the Carl Sandburg community college or both if they do well academically, provide community service, engage in extra-curricular activities and conduct themselves appropriately while in high school.
Les Hunter, a Knox employee based at Galesburg High School, meets regularly with the students as a group and as individuals, especially when they slide in the classroom or become consumed by problems at home or with classmates. He also interacts with parents.
As with other endeavors that focus on at-risk youths, this effort falls short of total success. Still, its participants are more likely to achieve high school diplomas and advance to post-secondary education. Twenty-four have attained highly regarded Knox degrees since 2006. "I can confidently say I would not be the person I am today without the Gale Scholar program," said Chris Carpenter, who now reciprocates as a teacher in the community.
Oliver Keys voices similar sentiments about another program that features deep involvement by higher education. More than a decade ago, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University launched an initiative focused on young African-American males from East St. Louis and the surrounding area. Dozens of youngsters – many new, others returnees – come to the Carbondale campus annually for an intensive weekend regimen that emphasizes leadership skills, team building and the importance of education. Like Keys, destined to soon become a university graduate with a major in automotive technology, many eventually benefit from SIU scholarships.
Linda Baker, a university professor at the Simon Institute, has been pivotal in spearheading, organizing and sustaining this venture. Yet, it would not have succeeded without the remarkable involvement of community mentors who plan and execute the Carbondale weekend and stay involved with participants back in their communities – mentors like Cedric Mitchell, a mainstay even after his sons reached adulthood, and Jason Ray, who has no children.
Other higher education institutions across the nation engage in their communities. However, as a Knox alumnus and former director of the Simon Institute, I am especially proud of the Gale Scholar and Leadership Weekend programs. The institute has initiated and organized many worthwhile projects – one of which produced the most substantial Illinois campaign finance reform in nearly a quarter century. However, nothing has been more meaningful than enhancing the lives of those youths.
We need more such engagement by higher education in distressed communities. More avenues to success. More guidance in how to navigate them. More innovative ways to puncture the hopelessness that robs their potential and replace it with dreams that become reality – for their sake and for the sake of our communities and our nation.
Mike Lawrence served as associate director and then director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute from July 1997 until November 2008.