Partnership targets education and wealth gaps among underserved young men of color

The magnitude of their reactions stemmed, in part, from the way Mary Baldwin had rewritten expectations around what college would look like. The young men grew up in the roughest and most underserved areas of New York City’s inner city boroughs. They’d imagined amphitheater classrooms crammed with hundreds of learners, professors burdened with so many students they couldn’t learn anyone’s name, loud urban campuses that sprawled like small cities — the list goes on.

“I loved how beautiful the campus was, how you could step outside a building and look out and see so many trees and mountains,” said Kwame Opoku, a star basketball player who intends to study criminal justice and become a lawyer. Meanwhile, “everyone was just so nice. They seemed genuinely glad to meet me, to learn about my goals, to get to know me, and to figure out ways they could help me find my place here and succeed.”

But for these young men, the April visit had also inspired reflections about their incredible academic journey. They were graduating from Southeast Queens Eagle Academy, which is part of a six-school, all-male college preparatory system that serves 4,000 of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged students of color in New York and Newark, New Jersey. Virtually all of them were slated to become the first in their family to pursue a college degree.   

“Where I come from, most people will laugh in a kid’s face if they say they’re gonna go to college — it’s more normal to drop out [of high school] than graduate,” said Isaih Scotland, who plans to major in psychology then pursue a career in psychiatry. “So, to be standing here right now, we’ve beaten the odds. It’s taken so much work, so much dedication. Honestly, it’s hard to let myself believe I’ve really made it.”  

The visit was the result of a new partnership between Mary Baldwin and Eagle Academy spearheaded by Vice President of Student Engagement Ernest Jeffries and Vice President of Enrollment Management Matt Munsey. The visit was the result of a new partnership between Mary Baldwin and Eagle Academy spearheaded by Vice President of Student Engagement Ernest Jeffries and Vice President of Enrollment Management Matt Muncey. The initial connection was made by Board of Trustees chair Gabby McCree ’83, who introduced Jeffries to Yevette Vargas, head of development at Citizens Bank. Vargas subsequently invited him to represent MBU in collaborating on a project to create a program for young men of color to help close knowledge gaps and reduce barriers to their success. An Eagle Academy representative was part of that team, and approached Jeffries about forming a separate partnership. 

All of the students from the Eagle Academy visit have applied to MBU and been accepted, with five — including Opoku and Scotland — making deposits for fall semester that day. At least two more have since followed suit.   

“From the beginning, this partnership felt tailor made for us, Eagle Academy, and — most importantly — these students,” said Jeffries.

Academy graduates are highly motivated and have a strong sense of professional direction. But they’re used to learning in a small, tight knit community environment that’s structured to meet the needs of underserved students living in areas suffering from higher rates of poverty, substance abuse, violence, and toxic family dynamics. Put another way: They’ve been treated more like family members than clients. 

That can make adjusting to a 50,000-plus student, majority white institution like New York University tough. 

In fact, a recent study of U.S. public universities found Black students at such schools are 250% less likely to earn a college degree than their white counterparts. Worse, one in four coming from low-income, first generation backgrounds will drop out within two semesters, and about 90 percent leave school without a degree within six years. 

The net effect is devastating: U.S. bachelor degree holders earn about $900,000 more lifetime income and 75% more money annually than those without a degree. Black families possess less than 15% of the median wealth of white families, and are three times less wealthy than Hispanic families.

“This partnership is all about closing that gap for these students and their future families,” said Jeffries. MBU is particularly suited for the task, because “our specialty is offering highly personalized, highly hands-on educational experiences within an authentic community setting that’s also affordable.”

With around 1,000 total residential students, Mary Baldwin’s size makes it next to impossible for learners to ghost through their first semester unnoticed and anonymous. The effect is amplified by a positive campus culture: Faculty, staff, alumni supporters, and upper-level students make it their mission to cultivate relationships with incoming students and help them find their niche within the #MBUfamily. Veteran diversity, equity, and inclusion thought leader and Chief Diversity Officer Andrea Cornett-Scott has fast-tracked participation in one of the nation’s top programs for students of color — which graduates more than 95% of participants that complete first-year programming.

Jeffries and Munsey have also worked closely with University Advancement to offer Eagle Academy students innovative financial aid packages that, in many cases, bring tuition-related costs to zero. 

“All of this is exactly what these students need to ensure they will continue down the path to succeeding in high-impact careers,” said Jeffries. 

Opoku, Scotland, and classmate Malakhi Thomas all agreed.  

“It’s crazy how at home I feel here,” said Thomas, who plans to study psychology at MBU and become a licensed therapist. “You know nothing’s going to be perfect, but after touring a bunch of other schools, to me, this is as close as it gets. There’s a voice in my head saying, ‘This is right, this is where you belong.’” 

Scotland seconded Thomas, but with a caveat: “My only regret is that I can’t start right now — the next couple of months are going to be torture!”

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT MBU’s groundbreaking new partnership with Eagle Academy?

Stay tuned for the summer edition of Mary Baldwin Magazine, where we’ll  fill you in on the backstory, explore implications for the future, and more!