Kenyon Educational Enrichment Program (KEEP) The Kenyon Educational Enrichment Program (KEEP)
organizes a variety of initiatives and programs aimed at admitting,
enrolling, retaining, and graduating students from underrepresented
populations at Kenyon into a coherent, coordinated, multi-year approach.
Elements of KEEP target economically disadvantaged students, first-generation
college students, and students of color from high school through
their four years at Kenyon, providing the academic, intellectual,
social, and economic support necessary to see these students through
their entire academic journey. The KEEP program was developed out
of the Kenyon
Academic Partnership (KAP), Kenyon's longstanding outreach
program to the high schools of Columbus, Cleveland, and Knox County. Following the summer transition program, summer students continue to meet bi-monthly during the school year, hearing from student life and academic division administrators on topics such as course selection, making the transition to college, dealing with issues at home, developing effective study skills and time management. Upperclass students who have participated in the summer transition program often pair with newer KEEP students through the REACH mentorship program, building multi-year friendships and a support network for underrepresented minority and first-generation students. Through REACH activities (service projects, study sessions, tutoring, and social programs), the KEEP group expands, inviting all students of color and first-generation students to participate in group activities and mentor/mentee relationships, expanding and strengthening the peer mentor network to include students of many different majors, interests, and backgrounds. With budget support from Kenyon, the KEEP program during the year is expanding to provide more opportunities for such interactions, by funding mentoring activities, outside speakers and social programs, and a new series of campus visits by young alumni from underrepresented groups, who will speak about their experiences after graduation and serve as a new layer of KEEP mentors to students currently studying at Kenyon. KEEP is a growing, active, and vital part of Kenyon’s plan to address diversity, access, and excellence in education for all students at Kenyon. The summer transition program is a critical piece of this initiative, providing a core group of students with valuable academic experience that will help them launch successfully into college work. Support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has been invaluable in helping develop this transition program, both in terms of funding two years of the Data Analysis course and in providing the developers with opportunities to learn from the successful strategies of others through the Symposia on Diversity. |