By Gavin O'Brien '04 and Stephen Collins '74

"Enhancing Diversity" is the title of a major section in the Strategic Plan for Colby, and one of the 34 initiatives in that section proposes joining with the Posse Foundation to bring multicultural groups of student leaders from urban public high schools to Colby as members of future classes.

The Board of Trustees approved the partnership at its fall meeting, and the first "Posse," a group of 10 students from New York City, will enroll with next year's incoming class, the Class of '06.

The Posse Foundation has been sending groups from various cultural and economic backgrounds to top colleges and universities for 12 years, "in the belief that a small diverse group of talented students, a posse, carefully selected and trained, can serve as a catalyst for increased individual and community development," according to foundation materials.

Colby is one of 15 colleges and universities now working with the foundation and one of five NESCAC colleges involved, Bowdoin and Middlebury among them.

From the College's perspective, it's a way to recruit a more diverse student body and, at the same time, to increase interaction on campus. Dean of Admissions Parker J. Beverage said that making the campus more diverse racially and ethnically is one of Colby's biggest challenges and that the Posse program "is seen as a way [for the College's admissions effort] to get into schools heretofore unknown to Colby."

Because of special training that Posse members receive before college and support they receive on campus from a mentor and from one another, the group is prepared to adjust to the non-urban college environment, to take leadership roles on campus and to get involved in a wide range of social and academic activities.

There is evidence of success at all three; the graduation rate for Posse scholars is above 90 percent, according to Russell Langsam, the Posse Foundation site director who works with Colby.

Posses, like the one that will come to Colby next fall, are drawn from public high schools in one of three cities, Boston, New York or Chicago. Initially the Posse Foundation's New York organization invited 1,400 students from the five boroughs to enter the screening process that will eventually produce nine Posses for nine of the partner colleges, including Colby, Langsam said. Once Colby admits 10 students, they become a Posse and begin a 34-week group training program to prepare for the social and academic demands of college life.

The name Posse came from a student who, after dropping out of college, said that "if he'd had his posse with him [a group of friends who would have backed him up] he never would have dropped out," according to the foundation.

The College's decision to join the Posse program was greeted with enthusiasm by some and a wait-and-see attitude by others. Edwin Stone '03, a member of the President's Planning Group, said, "It's a good place to start but it's not enough."

Additional information on the Posse program is online at www.possefoundation.org.