The University of Notre Dame has joined Say Yes to Education, a scholarship program that assists and supports students in elementary and secondary schools and provides scholarships in more than 100 colleges and universities nationwide.
Say Yes announced on Monday (June 10) that Notre Dame is joining the program, along with Harvard College and Northwestern, Duke and Georgetown universities.
Founded in 1987 by George Weiss, a money manager in Hartford, Conn., Say Yes to Education Inc. is a national nonprofit organization committed to increasing high school and college graduation rates of young people in the nation’s inner cities.
Say Yes currently works with some 65,000 students in the northeast region, including the entire school districts of Syracuse and Buffalo, N.Y., with additional chapters in Philadelphia, Harlem and Hartford. The program identifies students for participation beginning at the kindergarten level, promising each a college tuition scholarship upon graduation from high school.
“Notre Dame’s enthusiastic participation in the Say Yes program is based on a basic concern,” said Donald C. Bishop, the University’s associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment. “Too many students of great ability, creativity and heart from families with no tradition of going to college are not looking at the top universities with a sense of possibility. We want to reach out to these students earlier and provide the guidance and support to inspire them to match their talents with the right college choices. Great universities are engines of opportunity for all.”
“Notre Dame has a long, stellar tradition of providing the kind of teaching and support that really does help underserved students and those at risk to fulfill their promise,” said Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, president of Say Yes. “We at Say Yes are honored to partner with Notre Dame on this most important mission.”
More information about the Say Yes program is available online.
Contact: Donald C. Bishop, 574-631-7505, Donald.C.Bishop.40@nd.edu
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on June 11, 2013.