Reasons to Smile

Greetings, everyone. In these nervous times, I want to give you a few reasons to be happy. Thanks to you, we have the following success stories. These thumbnail anecdotes may not seem like much, but please do not forget that our students overcome so many hardships in order to make it to college and thrive. I honestly believe the following two young men would not be where they are without your support.

One success story is Taronne, who received our award for perseverance at our annual celebration in 2018. Taronne had a rocky first year at Claflin University, ultimately coming home in the middle of the spring semester a year ago to reconsider his options. He went back to Claflin this past January, and the attached picture depicts him immediately after finding out his midterm grade point average is 3.6.

Another success story is Dimitreus, who made the dean's list at Norfolk State University during this past fall semester for the first time. This was "Meechy's" ninth semester of college, and I was so thrilled he had made the dean's list that I drove down midweek for the honors assembly.

Our 2018-19 cohorts combined are on track to graduate at a 90% rate, which is a phenomenal early statistical marker. Our young scholars are breaking the cycle of previous generations in their families not going to college, or in some cases not evenfinishing high school. They also have a new vision of themselves as achievers in a society that often casts their population aside. Thank you again.