The celebration will be Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. in McCrary Theatre with a community reception to follow.
The campus community is invited to gather in McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, at 6 p.m. on Sept. 15 to join in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy, a national model for college access and success programs.
ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ faculty and staff are invited to join ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy scholars and their families, Alamance-Burlington School System leaders, donors to the program and other community leaders for the event. A community reception will follow on the Love Terrace outside the Center for the Arts featuring a jazz ensemble, food and family entertainment.
The 10th anniversary celebration will feature remarks from President Leo M. Lambert as well as Jean Rattigan-Rohr, executive director of community partnerships and director of the Center for Access and Success, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy Director Terry Tomasek, academy scholars and benefactors. Deborah Long, founding director of The ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy, will be honored at the event, which also will feature a special performance by ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s Camerata, conducted by Stephen Futrell with Gerald Knight on piano.
Thursday night’s event also offers a chance to celebrate the presentation of the university’s highest honor — the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Medallion — to Edna Truitt Noiles ’44, the founding donor of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy whose financial support for the effort was critical to its launch and success.
For the past decade, the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy has inspired hundreds of academically talented students in the Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS) to pursue higher education, build their leadership skills, and serve their communities. A collaborative effort between ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, ABSS and other Alamance County partners, the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy has served close to 250 scholars with high financial need or no family history of college attendance — students who are often underrepresented on college and university campuses.
Each year, the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy welcomes a new cohort of about two dozen rising sophomores from ABSS to participate in a summer academic enrichment program. During the summer program, high school sophomores, juniors and seniors participate in month-long residencies on ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s campus, which are then supplemented throughout the year with Saturday academy sessions. The ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy is a comprehensive, four-phase program that focuses on increasing access to college, helping with the transition to college, supporting students while they seek four-year degrees and then encouraging them to remain involved as alumni of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy.
Along with exposing students to a broad range of academic classes and cultural opportunities, the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Academy helps educate scholars and their families about the college application and selection process, and then prepares scholars for success once they are enrolled in college.