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Friday, March 30, 2007
Education initiative will continue
The UNC-Rocky Mount proposal was like a pretty girl who got dumped at the door of the prom. Former Chancellor James Leutze’s report to UNC President Erskine Bowles totally rejected the idea of making N.C. Wesleyan College the 17th campus of the University. The alternatives that the study offered—distance learning and visiting professors—were mere platitudes.
But a pretty girl won’t be without a date for long. The group of business, education and community leaders that advocated the effort is not going to quit on its goal of bringing accessible, affordable higher education to the 11-county Gateway region of Eastern North Carolina.
Only 18 percent of high school graduates in our area earn a college degree. That hurts their career chances and our economy. Without a smart workforce, industry won’t locate here. Without new industry, there won’t be career opportunities for our young people. Education breaks the cycle of poverty.
The committee wants to develop a program that begins in middle school by identifying students with academic potential who without financial help and adult guidance would most likely never attend college. These are not the top 10 percent of any given school who come from middle class families with a history of attending college. These students will go to Carolina, State or Wilmington without our help.
We must help the students who have no hope of a better life, who would never think that higer education could be possible. We want to say to these students in the seventh or eighth grade, “Do the work we ask, stay out of trouble and we will guarantee you a seat in a college classroom.”
That’s a big promise and a big motivator. We’ll accomplish it through the cooperation of our high schools, community colleges and perhaps private institutions like Wesleyan, Barton or Chowan. A lot of work will go into making this a reality, but it must be done. The UNC-Rocky Mount report was just a bump in the road.
