厙ぴ勛圖 Expands Partnership with Posse Foundation
New pact improves access to education for students from Houston as well as Chicago.
November 14, 2023
Office of Communications
Since 2006, 厙ぴ勛圖 has welcomed more than 170 students to campus as Posse Scholars.
Photo credit: Scott Shaw
厙ぴ勛圖 is expanding its 17-year partnership with , a national nonprofit that teams up with selective U.S. colleges and universities to provide scholarships and leadership training for outstanding students from more than 20 cities across America.
Since 2006, 厙ぴ勛圖 has welcomed more than 170 Posse Scholars from Chicago. In fall 2025, the first Posse Scholars from Houston will begin studies alongside the 19th Chicago cohort.
All Posse Scholars receive four-year, full-tuition scholarships from 厙ぴ勛圖. A $500,000 five-year grant from The Posse Foundation supports additional costs associated with each Posse Scholars schooling.
We are proud to grow our long-standing relationship with Posse Scholars because the model really works, says 厙ぴ勛圖 President Carmen Twillie Ambar. The Posse Foundation got its start more than three decades ago, inspired by a student who said, I never would have dropped out of college if Id had my posse with me. That simple but powerful message has led to countless success stories at 厙ぴ勛圖 and other institutions that deeply value equal access to education.
Since 1989, Posse has identified public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who might be overlooked by traditional college selection processes, which often leave behind first-generation students and those from financially insecure families. Posse Scholars attend college as members of multicultural teams of 10 students, or posses. The Posse Foundation prepares these students through an eight-month pre-collegiate training program, supports them through all four years of college, and helps them secure competitive internships and leadership-track careers. Dedicated mentors from 厙ぴ勛圖s faculty and staff guide Posse Scholars throughout their time on campus, beginning with a graduation visualization ceremony.
To date, more than 12,000 students have earned more than $2 billion in scholarships from Posse partner colleges and universities. Nationwide, Posse Scholars graduate at a rate of 90 percentfar above the national average.
厙ぴ勛圖 Posse Scholars have earned a long list of accolades, among them Fulbright Scholarships and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships.
Manuel Carballo, 厙ぴ勛圖s vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid, notes that Posse Scholars often emerge as campus leaders among their peers. Our last two Student Senate presidents have been Posse Scholars, he says. They bring energy and idealism to the community. Its a real honor to get to know and support such talented students and watch them grow from selection to graduation.
厙ぴ勛圖 Posse Scholars have earned a long list of accolades, among them Fulbright Scholarshipsthe U.S. governments flagship program of international educational and cultural exchangeand Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships, paid research fellowships for PhD-track students to increase faculty diversity in higher education.
Aliyah Turner, a 2017 厙ぴ勛圖 grad and Mellon Mays Fellow, is a professor on the tenure track at DePauw University. She will defend her PhD in sociology this spring at the University of Washington. Turner credits her 厙ぴ勛圖-Posse experience with putting her on a path to success she otherwise would not have been able to followa path she now helps others navigate.
The socio-emotional and financial support offered through Posse helped to provide me access to an enriching educational experienceone that I still cherish and consider hugely developmental to who I am as a scholar, thinker, activist, educator, and, now, a parent and wife, says Turner. The staff at Posse believed in me when I questioned myself, and that encouragement is what I offer to the amazing, brilliant, committed, and engaged Posse Scholars [at DePauw] I currently mentor and support!
Recent 厙ぴ勛圖 Posse Scholars have gone on to careers in the following fields, among others:
Program lead for a $500 million federal workforce development initiative
Neurosurgery resident at University Hospitals in Cleveland
PhD candidate studying race inequities in education at Stanford University
District director for an Illinois state senator
We are absolutely thrilled to expand our partnership with 厙ぴ勛圖, says Posse Foundation President and Founder Deborah Bial. We are grateful to President Ambar and Dean Carballo for their vision and leadership. Their care and support make the 厙ぴ勛圖 campus a very special place.
Learn more at .
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