Following Syracuse University’s termination of contract with both the Los Angeles and Atlanta chapters of recruitment for Posse scholars, Bea González has her work cut out for her.

In August, González, dean of University College, was appointed as the new formal liaison between the Posse Foundation and the university. As such, she will work with the university and the foundation to support Posse scholars on campus, assist faculty working with them and choose each year’s newest Posse from Miami.

“I’m trying to reset the Posse relationship on our campus,” González said.

The Posse Foundation recruits and trains public high school students with outstanding leadership and academic abilities each year to become Posse scholars.

Alexandria Pritchett, a Posse alumna who attended SU, stressed that cultural and economic backgrounds do not play a part in the selection of Posse scholars. However, SU seems to have used the program to further the diversity on campus.

“It’s just the pool you’re drawing from, especially in Atlanta Public Schools. The makeup is very, very different. That’s kind of what makes Posse neat,” said Paige Banks, a member of Posse Atlanta’s first graduating class at SU with Pritchett.

While it is not an affirmative action type of scholarship program, the founder used the diversity of scholars as a marketing strategy to form partnerships with universities, Pritchett said.

“That got us in the door, but it’s so important to prove every day that that’s not why we’re here and that’s not how we stay,” she said. “Me walking into a room and saying I’m a Posse scholar doesn’t make me great, watch me work and you’ll know.”

That is part of the reason González is excited to step into the position of formal liaison.

“I just want to bring clarity regarding the relationship and the mission of the program,” she said.

Though that diversity is not a requirement, González said she believes it is an important part of achieving the Posse mission.

“One of the values of Posse, and the values of the university, is engaging with people you normally wouldn’t agree with and doing it respectfully,” she said.

The Posse Foundation reports that 63 percent of Posse alumni are underrepresented minorities, with more than 60 percent of alumni being black, Hispanic or Latino.

González said she became acquainted with the foundation during THE General Body sit-in of fall 2014. That, she said, is when she started to pay more attention to the group. Part of their protest involved dissatisfaction with the termination of recruitment in the Posse chapters in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Hanna Richardson, associate deputy director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program and one of the mentors to Posse scholars on campus, said the scholars were extremely disappointed to hear of the terminations.

“It was a process they moved through in their own emotional worlds. I encouraged them not to take it personally, because it certainly wasn’t about them,” Richardson said.

González noted that the Posse scholars were particularly saddened to lose the chance to host other academic leaders from their community on campus.

González and Richardson said the amount of funding it takes to bring three new Posses onto campus each academic year was the reason for the terminations. Originally, SU agreed to pay the four-year, full-tuition scholarships of 10 students from each of the three cities they signed up with: Los Angeles, Atlanta and Miami.

“I think it was unusual in the first place to take on three Posses at once,” Richardson said.

Bringing three cities on board in the first go-around was abnormal for the foundation, too. Richardson said one Posse is the norm for universities in their first few years.

“Posse is a resource-intensive program,” González said. “If you want to do it right, you have to have the right amount of resources in place. The number of Posses you have in place has to match your abilities to support the students.”

The University College dean felt that a part of the termination could be attributed to the university’s inability to deliver a program for three cities that met or exceeded the ideal set forth in the signed agreement.

“We are in recalibration mode,” González said.

González added that it is her goal to keep improving Posse so there is the possibility of recruiting in Los Angeles and Atlanta once again.

“It’s too early for that conversation,” she said.

Published on September 19, 2016 at 11:46 pm

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