Athens, Ga. – In addition to holding several programs this summer to recruit and aid minority students, the University of Georgia’s Office of Institutional Diversity will host to the national “I Have a Dream” conference from July 17-20.
The conference marks the national meeting of the I Have a Dream Foundation’s Dreamers programs, which seek to ensure that children in low-income communities have a chance at higher education through guaranteed financial and educational support.
“The Office of Institutional Diversity is excited about sponsoring summer pre-collegiate residential programs, as they expose students to a myriad of educational opportunities available post high school,” said Mimi Sodhi, assistant provost for institutional diversity.
“We are especially honored to host the national ‘I Have a Dream’ conference in July, as we have worked closely with the Greensboro Dreamers for about seven years and are awed by this foundation’s commitment to improving the lives of students through education.”
The OID also will help incoming first year students get a taste of the college experience from July 6-25 as part of the Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PS-LSAMP) program.
“This will be the second year that we are able, through this National Science Foundation grant, to provide a summer bridge program for incoming first-year students,” said Ernest Brothers, executive director of PS-LSAMP. “This experience introduces students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math to university life and helps ease their transition into the academic rigors at the University of Georgia.”
More than 80 students already have visited campus this summer as part of Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) Atlanta and the Greensboro Dreamers, Greene County program.
For more information on the UGA Office of Institutional Diversity, see http://www.uga.edu/diversity/.