This is a planting-seeds endeavor. When I talk now to a seventh-grader, I know I won't be seeing that student for four or five years. Suzette Speight, a member of Family Focus' auxiliary council, said the outreach effort will help minority students realize that they can find a niche in a predominantly white college. There's a lot of stress associated with being isolated. You feel like you don't belong.
Adjustment is always difficult.
Kim Ross, teen parent services coordinator for Family Focus, said the outreach program plays a valuable role in encouraging local black students to attend college. Northwestern is saying that they are willing to come out and give them the resources. Many of the participants said they found the program helpful but that NU still does not do enough to promote diversity. Attracting a diverse pool of students and faculty feeds itself. Weinberg junior Cara Moore, also a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, said prospective black students often wonder whether they can fit into a mostly white college.