That advice has stuck with Kelly, who today serves as dean of ������Ƶ College, the College of Arts and Sciences, at ������Ƶ.

“Until then, I was not a reader,” Kelly told Alamance County high school seniors selected as 2024-2025 ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars. “I did not read for pleasure outside of schoolwork. I was intrigued and remember going home that afternoon to make a nightstand out of a box I found around the house.”

Kelly recalled that pivotal moment when he delivered keynote remarks on June 27, 2025, at an annual symposium for students participating in the ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars Program.

Launched in 2022 in partnership with the network, the ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars Program brings upward of two dozen college-bound students to campus for a residential experience where they to learn to be difference makers in their communities.

Students present civic engagement research, conducted with guidance from mentors, at a symposium that serves as a capstone to their campus stay. The theme for the 2024-25 Freedom Scholars Symposium was “Cherished Freedoms.”

“So much of the work of the ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars, The Teagle Foundation and the Knowledge for Freedom initiatives centers on the value of a liberal education,” said Associate Professor Prudence Layne, director of the ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars Program. “Similar to, but more pronounced among this year’s cohort, is the focus on the arts and sciences: creating pathways, building accessible and sustainable futures and the value of a liberal education in promoting cultural diversity.”

During this year’s symposium, Freedom Scholars presented on research topics such as expanding resources for post-secondary education, celebrating cultural diversity, and using the practice of recycling to inspire studies to pursue studies in the arts and sciences.

Kalyn Faille, a recent graduate of Walter M. Williams High School in Burlington, N.C., and one of two incoming Honors Fellow at ������Ƶ from this cohort, described how she and her group organized and hosted an event to teach kids about using recyclable materials to explore art and science.

“I have been a music student for 13 years, so my work focused on renewable ways to access music and create equitable music access,” Faille said. “The Freedom Scholars program taught me to collaborate well with others and build teamwork skills which will prepare me for college.”

And it starts with a passion for the written word.

Kelly, in his symposium remarks, described how the thread that connects all intellectual pursuits is a love of reading. Over time, he said, his own reading went from nothing more than required homework to a fuel that shaped his academic and professional career.

Use books as a compass to dream about the future, Kelly concluded, and embrace reading in pursuit of lifelong learning – make it part of a “freedom dream.”

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June brought some heat and fun to the ������Ƶ campus with summer camps and community events.

View some of the most impactful moments of the past month through the eyes of staff in the Office of University Communications.

Summer Academy

������Ƶ Academy kicked off its Summer Academy with an ice cream social on June 17, 2025, welcoming the incoming Upsilon class: 25 high-achieving rising high school sophomores who are first-generation college-bound, low-income, or both, as well as students from the earlier Sigma and Tau cohorts.

Exploring ������Ƶ

������Ƶ welcomed 26 new “explorers” from June 16 to 20 for the ������Ƶ Explorers Bug Camp, a STEM-focused day camp for middle school students in Alamance County.

Global under the stars

Scholar Symposium

The Freedom Scholars Symposium on June 27 in Moseley Center offered an opportunity for the Freedom Scholars to celebrate their hard work and present their civic engagement projects. The ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars is one of several university college access programs, launched in 2022. The program partners with  initiative and supports local high school students from underserved populations to be difference makers in their communities.

The scholars’ deep empathy and love of their communities emerged as they spoke passionately about their desire to use art to bridge generational divides and spend time with elderly residents sequestered in nursing homes and facilities across the county. They shared their optimism at having a new superintendent, who they hope will help re-energize the hopes and dreams of ABSS students and their families. The scholars are planning an ABSS cultural diversity day in Spring 2025, bilingual information sessions and resources for their peers, environmental and sustainability events and more.

Beginning in November, students deepen their understanding of the scholarship that exists around their varied interests of concern. In December, they will log volunteer hours with local organizations and groups doing similar work as they continue expanding their initiatives and activities through June 2025.

The ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars is one of several university college access programs, launched in 2022. The proposed civic engagement work of this year’s cohort builds on a powerful legacy Freedom Scholars have established in the two short years of the program. To learn more and to become involved in the civic engagement work, email freedomscholars@elon.edu.

The ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars, launched in 2022, is one of several university college access programs. In one of the most powerful moments of the orientation session, one of the members of the cohort expressed her gratitude to the program for the opportunity, especially her friend who texted her a link to the program application in a simple message, saying, “Join me.” These two powerful words changed the trajectory of her life. In her words, she said she was heading to cosmetology school in the absence of a clear path to a four-year college experience.

Prudence Layne, director of the Freedom Scholars program, provided the ABSS high school seniors and their families an overview of the year ahead, which includes the ability to take college-level classes at ������Ƶ, develop a network of mentors to support their college, career and civic leadership aspirations, build and expand a strong civic leadership legacy in Alamance County, and share their research and work as they prepare for college and life after high school.

Currently, eight ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars alumni are enrolled as scholars in the Odyssey Program and other signature Fellows and Scholar programs at ������Ƶ. Other graduates of the program are enrolled at high-caliber colleges and programs across the nation, including Clemson, Duke, N.C. A&T State University, Queens University, the University of Alabama, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte and Virginia Tech. Freedom Scholars alumni also serve their country, enrolling in the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Army Reserve.

The program’s academic curriculum takes a “classic citizenship to contemporary challenges” approach to its curriculum.

“We provide you with the real-world relevance of how thinkers from the classical and ancient worlds, like Hobbes, Locke and Plato, when studied alongside contemporary writers, help you recognize the significance for their worlds,” said Joel Shelton, ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars associate director of curriculum and instruction.

While parents and families embarked on a bilingual (English & Spanish) tour of the ������Ƶ campus, Freedom Scholars shared some of the most pressing challenges they identified in their communities, including: food insecurity, homelessness, the ABSS teacher shortages, under-resourcing, and under-employment and promoting access and inclusion in their schools and the broader communities. Students shared some of the painful realities of their communities and began brainstorming ways they could partner with each other, local agencies and activists to impact their communities.

Scholars will meet at least once monthly over the coming year to focus on their research and projects. The class will gather for their two-week summer residency in June 2025 before heading off to college. They will share their research and civic engagement projects with the public at the third annual ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars Symposium on June 27 at ������Ƶ.

Meet the Class of 2025

Bisan Abu Khalaf
Williams High School

Lily Alba Martinez
Cummings High School

Darwin Cortes Pimentel
Cummings High School

Rafael Campos Perez
Cummings High School

Symphoni Curtis
Southeast Alamance High School

Emily Davis
Eastern High School

Kairiana Day
Eastern High School

Kalyn Faille
Williams High School & ABSS Early College

Keydie Hernandez Sandoval
Cummings High School

Stephanie Flores-Portillo
Eastern High School

Gabrielle Howard
Cummings High School

Madison Kingery
Southern High School

Breon Love
Cummings High School

Grettel Martinez Rojas
Cummings High School

Marianna Martinez
Williams High School

Britny Mendoza Portillo
Cummings High School

Daysi Nicoll Merlos-Avila
Cunnings High School

Magaly Palomares
Southern High School & ABSS Early College

Eimy Roselin
Cummings High School

Yuritza Sanchez
Cummings High School

Inaaya Siddiqui
Walter Williams High School

Haleigh Totten
Cummings High School

Dulce Velasquez Arreaga
Eastern High School

Kymani Mason
Graham High School & COP

Yarile Yajaira
Graham High School

“I believe that we all have a purpose in life,” said Wilson, the keynote speaker at the second ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars Symposium on June 11. “I believe that if we all understand that self-agency can really make a difference in our lives, the world will be a better place.”

Freedom Struggles

The Freedom Scholars Symposium in Moseley Center offered an opportunity for the second cohort of Freedom Scholars to celebrate their hard work and present their civic engagement projects. The ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars is one of several university college access programs, launched in 2022. The program partners with initiative and supports local high school students from underserved populations to be difference makers in their communities.

This year, 15 Alamance-Burlington School System high school students participated in the program which included a two-week, intensive residential experience and monthly programming throughout the academic year. In that time, the Freedom Scholars worked with a mentor in their area of expertise to deepen their understanding of the challenges they want to address. The theme of the 2023-24 Freedom Scholars Symposium was “Freedom Struggles.”

“Locally, nationally, globally, we are in a battle for democracy, citizenship, freedom,” said Prudence Layne, director of the Freedom Scholars and associate professor of English. “We really hope that the symposium audience, in a local context, can see the work that our students have put in, how civically engaged they are and think about their roles in meeting the challenges that are ahead of us.”

The Master Plan

Struggling for freedom is something keynote speaker Chris Wilson is all too familiar with. During the 1980s and 1990s, Wilson grew up in a Washington, D.C. community plagued by violence. Amid ducking to the ground in his grandmother’s home to avoid gunfire, his family also suffered extensive stalking and abuse from his mother’s ex-boyfriend. It all culminated in being sentenced to life in prison for killing a man at the age of 18.

“I fell into a deep depression. I was withering for about two years,” said Wilson of his time in prison. “I couldn’t believe my life was over and I had to grow old and die in this place.”

But then Wilson came across another inmate who was studying every day to eventually get out and start a software company. “This is how I will be free,” he told Wilson.

It was a spark. Wilson began writing his “Master Plan,” a list of things he wanted to accomplish. The most important item on the list: to be free.

“When I was writing my Master Plan in my cell, I said I would like to be the person who goes back into communities [like my own] and lift my people out of this figurative cave and show them how to fill out a job application or how to start a business. I want to live by example.”

In 2006, after more than 16 years in prison, a judge granted him a second chance and he was a free man. Now a visual artist and social justice advocate, Wilson started The Chris Wilson Foundation to provide support to “justice-impacted individuals who struggled with the same barriers to opportunity, education and employment that he did.” He also published a book, “The Master Plan: My Journey From Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose,” that helped inform this year’s ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars cohort.

Freedom Scholar Mram Elhussain, who recently graduated from Western Alamance High School, presented Wilson with the ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars Speaker Award noting that his focus on community in his work made a strong impact on her.

“This program really puts a significance on community as well,” said Elhussain. “Reading how Wilson not only tried to better himself and later in his community has inspired me in ways that I cannot begin to describe.”

Food For Thought

During the symposium, the Freedom Scholars presented their work from the program – each focusing on a different civic engagement topic. Sandy Orozzo Rosado, a Williams High School graduate who will be a member of ������Ƶ’s Class of 2028, and her group explored the challenges that first-generation Latino immigrants face when pursuing higher education. The group held a “Food for Thought” event where they listened to the experiences of current ������Ƶ students. Some of the challenges they heard included access to Spanish language support, career guidance and dual enrollment courses.

“I took a dual enrollment course with ������Ƶ and one of the classes I took was an upper 3000 Spanish course and I’d previously only taken AP Spanish,” said Orozzo Rosado, an incoming Odyssey Program scholar. “The attention that I received was super considerate and they gave a lot of constructive feedback. It was a life-changing course.”

The group also created an infographic sheet with resources for first-generation Latino students, hoping to make them available at the CityGate Dream Center in Burlington and in local middle and high schools. Other Freedom Scholars projects included issues facing underprivileged schools, diversity in LGBTQ+ spaces and the limitations of agricultural education in city schools.

All of this year’s Freedom Scholars will be attending college, including at Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, Virginia Tech and ������Ƶ. The next cohort of Freedom Scholars will be integrated with Collegiate Start@������Ƶ, a dual enrollment program for high school seniors, allowing the students to take up to eight credit hours in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.

“I am happy with how things turned out with this cohort,” said Layne. “We really hope that our students continue to stay engaged. What I’ve loved about the first two iterations of the program is that, for some of their civic engagement projects, they’re already thinking about how they can continue them.”

With sweat on his brow, Judge Larry D. Brown Jr. marched through the crowd in McKinnon Hall on Sunday, June 11, during the inaugural Freedom Scholars Symposium and passionately imparted to students the sentiment of “freedom is not free.”

There was once a time in this country when women and minorities were denied voting rights, when segregation was legally enforced. Even today, the skepticism in the judicial system and due process among the current generation is unbridled. But it is the sacrifice of many who decided to “troubled the waters,” putting aside personal welfare, that have corrected these societal ills.

“If you don’t trouble the water, the water will begin to get stagnant. These were laws until somebody stood up for what the believed was right. They didn’t stand there and wait for somebody else to fix the problem. They were Freedom Scholars,” Brown said.

Twelve Alamance-Burlington School System high school seniors from the 2023 Freedom Scholar cohort were celebrated at the inaugural Freedom Scholars Symposium for their completion of the program and were joined by the 16 students in the 2024 cohort. The symposium offered peers, family members, community members, teachers and mentors an opportunity to share in the success and growth of knowledge the scholars have experienced throughout the academic year, which included work on service projects designed to address challenges facing their own communities.

Under the theme of “Chasing Freedom,” Brown, who has been the Alamance County District Court Judge since 2017, urged the scholars to think about what they would be willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the world. “You are the next doctors, the next lawyers, the next business owners. What are you going to do to right this ship? You have to challenge what’s wrong and make it right,” Brown said.

The ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars is one of the university’s college access and success programs that was announced in 2021 and launched in 2022. Partnering with initiative, the program supports local high school students from underserved populations who desire to attend college and “be difference makers in their communities.” The ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars program received a planning grant for $25,000 in 2021 and an implementation grant for $300,000 in 2022 from The Teagle Foundation.

Associate Professor of English Prudence Layne is the director of the ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars program, which welcomed its inaugural cohort last summer with a two-week residency. As the students took two college courses, gained certification and engaged in co-curricular activities, they also grew in more ways than they thought possible before starting.

“This is a dream … that has manifested itself by your presence here this morning,” Layne said. “We’re so excited to share the work that they have done towards realizing their college dreams. I’ve said that we were hurting young leaders. But they came in as leaders to this program.”

The symposium featured an art exhibition and award ceremony as well as four sessions presented by the Freedom Scholars on the work they completed during the year.

One session titled “Ignite Creativity” discussed the importance of expressionistic freedom for youth artists in Alamance County.

“Art stimulates our senses, ignites our imaginations and encourages us to see the world through a different lens,” said Gabe Allred, a graduate of Cummings High School and aspiring physician. “Integrating art into our lives is an act of self-expression, authenticity and that allows us to tap into our innermost thoughts, emotions and experiences.”

The Teagle Foundation is a philanthropic organization focused on supporting and strengthening liberal arts education, which it sees as fundamental to meaningful work, effective citizenship and a fulfilling life. The foundation seeks to be a catalyst for the improvement of teaching and learning in the arts and sciences while addressing issues of financial sustainability and accountability in higher education.

“The foundation is committed to the principle that liberal education entails open-minded engagement with the most challenging ideas of past and present, and that the opportunity for such an education must not be restricted to the privileged few,” the mission of the Teagle Foundation states.

Andrew Delbanco, president of the Teagle Foundation, said the Freedom Scholars initiative represents the very best efforts of the students. He reminded them that while having completed the program is a personally significant achievement, it means just as much to larger community and the future of our collective society.

“[This program] means that the university is making an investment in the most precious resource we have in this or any other country. That is an investment in young people with hope and talent and determination and focus on our collective future. Nothing is more important than that,” Delbanco said.

Winding down two weeks spent studying civic leadership and philosophies around democracy, the first 14 ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars visited the nearby Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum. The historic site memorializes Brown, an early national leader for Black education and civil rights, and the Palmer Institute she founded in rural Guilford County.

Glimmering on a bookshelf filled with Brown’s personal collection of classic liberal arts texts shone a copy of Plato’s “Republic.” In the days leading up to the visit, the scholars immersed themselves in the Greek philosopher’s treatise on justice and ordered politics as part of the Freedom Scholars coursework, critiquing his vision, comparing it to modern society and judging it against their own values.

The scholars collectively lost it.

“This was an incredible day. My entire life I will remember all of you seeing her bookshelf and realizing that Plato was on it, that you could pick it up and that you could read it and everything else on that bookshelf and understand it. It was inspiring to see your excitement and curiosity, and it will stay with me,” said Tamara Tweel, program director for civic initiatives, at a closing reception for ������Ƶ’s first cohort of Freedom Scholars. She joined them Thursday, June 30, on behalf of the foundation, which has awarded grants to ������Ƶ to support the creation and implementation of the innovative Freedom Scholars initiative.

The scholars’ excitement about Plato pales in comparison to their passion for the community projects they will implement over the coming year. They include:

•  a program to support and educate local LGBTQIA youth and families;
• art events for marginalized youth and young adults to express themselves, grow their talents and market their work;
• a holistic mentoring program for middle school youth that will connect them with educational opportunities and other services as needed;
• a women’s empowerment series that introduces BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) women and girls to careers in law and explores the complexities of their relationships to the law; and
• a mental health initiative for Latinx youth and families via a partnering agency.

������Ƶ Freedom Scholars is a college access and civic engagement program for high school seniors from underserved communities in the Alamance-Burlington area. Announced in 2020, the program received a $300,000 Knowledge for Freedom grant from The Teagle Foundation last year. The Teagle Foundation works to support and strengthen liberal arts education in the service of effective citizenship and crafting meaningful lives. Its Knowledge for Freedom programs invite underserved high school students to study and engage with literature and philosophies that raise deep questions about leading lives of purpose and civic responsibility.

������Ƶ Freedom Scholars includes the two-week summer residential program just completed by the first cohort and an additional year of mentoring by career mentors and area leaders to realize civic projects in their communities. Scholars will present their projects to incoming scholars and other community members next summer at the ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars Symposium.

The Teagle Foundation and university support for the program makes it free for scholars and families, covering tuition, room and board, food, materials — including an iPad for each scholar — and includes an $800 stipend to further defray costs associated with attendance. ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars was envisioned and developed by Associate Professor of English Prudence Layne, who serves as program director. Assistant Professor of Philosophy Lauren Guilmette and Assistant Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Joel Shelton, guided the scholars and undergraduate mentors through philosophy and political science courses.

“This program has allowed us to gain a team of mentors and support that we all wished we had growing up,” said Williams High School senior Tayloir Wiley. “We made strong connections because of our differences. We are all members of marginalized communities, whether because we’re people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community or even religious association, but we have found common ground in that there needs to be more representation and support for all types of people.”

Scholars arrived at ������Ƶ on Juneteenth already passionate about making change in areas of education, equity in access to resources and advancements in support for women and marginalized communities. They left July 1 with action plans and direct connections to organizations and agencies that will assist them.

“The residential program is just the start,” Layne said at the June 30 reception. “The real work of changing our community and the fight for social justice is just beginning. Yes, you have year-long projects you will present at the symposium to next summer’s incoming class, but after that, these are your passion projects. You have made lifelong commitments to the work you are deeply invested in. I want you to retain that power, that passion and that drive.”

Initially, scholars wanted to create a one-stop center that would serve multiple purposes and youth communities. “But we’re only teenagers and we only have one year,” Arden Richardson, a Williams High School senior, reminded them.

“It’s OK to start small. Think of it as planting seeds that will grow,” Layne urged.

By their second week, they aligned the scope of their visions with the realities of limited time and resources.

Huddled over their iPads during a final planning session with Layne, they plotted their goals and outcomes, furiously clicking, scrolling and collecting sobering statistics and outlining ways their projects would change them. Layne floated among them spurring their ideas, inviting them to explore gaps in existing services and programs and consider ways to bring resources directly into targeted communities.

“You can take as a given that ������Ƶ is behind you,” Layne said. “We support you and your ideas but think also about the constellation of mentors you’ve identified. Who are your partners and allies in this work?”

Scholars completed two courses for college credit this summer.

Layne taught LED 2100A: Foundations of Leadership, guiding scholars through methods of grassroots civic action and social change. In a closing exercise, students responded to the prompt, “How should we lead?” Among their answers: “with integrity,” “with humility,” “be open-minded,” “together” and “with purpose.”

Guilmette led PHL 1120A: How Should We Live?, which is where they encountered Plato and analyzed aspects of U.S. democracy and justice through his and contemporary writings. They synthesized their learning in final creative projects, many heavily influenced by a Belk Library session on the historical and community-building aspect of zines — nonprofessional, freeform, often underground publications for niche audiences — with Archivist and Assistant Librarian Libby Coyner. Additional sessions included resumé building workshops with the Student Professional Development Center, and CPR and first aid certification courses led by Assistant Director of Campus Recreation and Wellness Evan Small.

Alongside the scholars, ������Ƶ undergraduate mentors completed POL 3920 C: Classic Citizenship for Contemporary Challenges with Shelton and Guilmette. Mentors pre-read “Republic” and related readings and spent afternoons guiding scholars through the dense ideas and planning projects.

Scholar Halli Nguyen of Williams High School said the program made her feel more confident in creating change. She and her team will develop Project Prism for queer youth this year. “I feel like I’ve been part of something really special,” Nguyen said. “I love how much this forced me to think critically and to ask questions and be diverse in mind and thought. This gave me a team of people I can ask for help and come to with questions.”

Jakayla Simmons, also a Williams High senior, is part of the team launching Infinity Mentoring focused on middle-school youth. The program catalyzed her personal experiences and observations of youth whom adults give up on into pathways of action. “I’d always had opinions and thoughts, but I never thought I could actually do something to change things,” Simmons said. “Now I know I can, and that there are people here who will help me make my vision come alive.”

The 2023 Freedom Scholars program is open to ABSS students beginning their junior year of high school in fall 2022. In addition to the complete online application (available in spring 2023), applicants will need to submit a letter of recommendation and a copy of their high school transcript.

Program Director Prudence Layne and Assistant Director Joel Shelton were joined by district and school administrators in delivering the news to the accepted students in surprise visits to their schools around the county earlier this month. The news was met with exclamations, cheers, tears, applause and excited phone calls to parents.

Layne shared her own excitement as she noted the cohort’s broad diversities, burgeoning activism in their schools and communities, their plans to pursue college, and ambitious career goals. “All the students bring life experiences and perspectives that will enrich all of our experiences,” Layne said. “I am so excited to embark on this journey with them.”

Freedom Scholars is a year-long college access program for local high school juniors focused on the study of democracy and civic engagement that is headed by Layne, an associate professor of English. Assistant Professor of Philosophy Lauren Guilmette and Assistant Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Joel Shelton and English/Teacher Education major Ashley Tatum ’22 comprise the Leadership Team for 2022-23.

Announced in 2020, the program received a $300,000 Knowledge for Freedom grant from The Teagle Foundation last year. The Teagle Foundation works to support and strengthen liberal arts education in the service of effective citizenship and crafting meaningful lives. Its Knowledge for Freedom programs invite underserved high school students to study and engage with literature and philosophies that raise deep questions about leading lives of purpose and civic responsibility.

The program includes a two-week, intensive, residential experience at ������Ƶ for the rising seniors from the Alamance-Burlington School System this summer followed by a year of programming and college application support. Throughout the program, Freedom Scholars will collaborate with and build mentoring networks that include an ������Ƶ undergraduate student mentor and a civic leader mentor.

With the support of their mentors, each scholar will plan and execute a civic project in their local communities. At the end of their senior year of high school, they will present their work at the Freedom Scholars Symposium, which will also serve as the welcoming event for the next incoming cohort of scholars.

As part of the application process, students detailed their interest in the program, submitted a high school transcript and a letter of recommendation from a high school teacher, coach or administrator, who attested to the student’s academic abilities and leadership.

Participation in the program is free to students. Each Freedom Scholar will receive an $800 honorarium, take college-level classes, access ������Ƶ campus resources, and receive all their books, materials and equipment for free.

More information about the Freedom Scholars program, including details about becoming a student or civic leader mentor, is available here.

Freedom Scholars Inaugural Cohort, 2022 – 2023

Gabriel Allred, Ray Street Academy

Fatima Barillas Coronado, Graham High School

Danielle Bunker, Eastern Alamance High School

Taylor Duque, Graham High School

Samuel Gutierrez Moreno, Graham High School

Isiah Lee Morgan, Western Alamance High School

Daniela Muñoz, Williams High School

Halli Nguyen, Williams High School

Kaylynn Olivere, Western Alamance High School

Ashley Ramirez-Martinez, ABSS Early College

Carlos Rivas Enriquez, Cummings High School

Serenity Richardson, Williams High School

Jakayla Simmons, Williams High School

Nevaeh Stroud, Southern Alamance High School

Tayloir Wiley, Williams High School

The program includes a two-week residential experience at ������Ƶ for 15 rising Alamance-Burlington School System high school seniors, a year of programming and college application support, and one-on-one mentoring by ������Ƶ undergraduates and area civic leaders. With the support of their mentors, each scholar will plan and execute a civic project in their home community. At the end of their senior year, they will present their work at the Freedom Scholars Symposium, which also will serve as the welcoming event for the incoming cohort of scholars.

“Young people have spearheaded many significant changes taking place in our country and across the world in the past few years,” said Associate Professor of English Prudence Layne, who conceived of the program. “As an educator, it is my duty to help prepare our youth to confront the challenges facing our world and create sustainable change. The ������Ƶ Freedom Scholars are another line of defense in this work. I can’t wait to see what they will accomplish.”

The Freedom Scholars program is designed for high-achieving students planning to enroll in college and tailored for first-generation college-bound students, families with high financial need and those from marginalized communities. Participation in the program is free. Other benefits include an $800 honorarium; connection to a constellation of mentors among ������Ƶ faculty, staff, students and local leaders; access to ������Ƶ’s campus resources; and planned outings and events.

The Teagle Foundation’s 42-month Knowledge for Freedom grant was awarded to Layne, Assistant Professor of Philosophy Lauren Guilmette, and Assistant Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Joel Shelton this fall. The Teagle Foundation works to support and strengthen liberal arts education in service of effective citizenship and meaningful lives. Its Programs invite underserved high school students to study and engage with literature and philosophies that raise deep questions about leading lives of purpose and civic responsibility.

In 2020, Layne was awarded a $25,000 planning grant from the Teagle Foundation to design the program with other ������Ƶ faculty and staff including Guilmette, Shelton, Assistant Professor of Philosophy Ryan Johnson and Associate Professor of Classical Languages.

Guilmette will lead the scholars in an introductory philosophy course for college credit, “How Should We Live?”, studying democracy, freedom and leadership using classic texts by Plato with writings by contemporary scholars. The course will give students modern inroads and contexts for understanding ideas that have transcended cultures and time.

“These are timeless questions. We want to make these classics live for our students and offer them a welcoming way into these discussions,” Guilmette said.

Shelton, who with Layne will advise ������Ƶ’s undergraduate mentors, said great care went into planning the course and structure of the scholars’ experience.

“We’re aiming to make these topics — freedom, citizenship, democracy — accessible to these terrific high school students in ways that will help them to think differently about the problems and opportunities that exist in their communities, and to engage in their communities in ways that strengthen them,” Shelton said.

After their two weeks on campus, scholars will return for monthly programs and meetings with mentors in support of their college application process as well as workshops on leadership, college financial literacy and similar subjects.

“Scholars will become ambassadors for their communities,” Layne said, leading walking tours of their neighborhoods, identifying unmet needs and working with their mentors to improve their community. This will culminate in the Freedom Scholars Symposium during the spring of their senior year, where they will present their project to the public, area leaders and the incoming cohort of scholars.

Ashley Tatum ’22 assisted faculty in planning the program and believes the Freedom Scholars will strengthen the community through shared work and knowledge.

“������Ƶ has a long history of supporting K-12 education outreach, college access and success programs, mentoring, and community engagement, and the Freedom Scholars program engages with the same efforts,” Tatum said. “The program itself presents a unique opportunity for civic leaders within the community to pass their skills to the upcoming generation of leaders, for ������Ƶ students and faculty to engage in enriching mentorship relationships with students within the Alamance-Burlington School System who already possess an abundance of curiosity, creativity, and potential, and for students in the community to access resources that will support their ability to become true leaders and impact their present and future communities in positive ways.”

Layne and Tatum will begin promoting the program to students in Alamance-Burlington Schools this winter.

The Freedom Scholars program will work in tandem with the successful ������Ƶ Academy program to increase college access in Alamance County. Layne and the planning team were cognizant of barriers to access, including that scholars may be working to help support their families — and that participation could lead to financial hardship. To ease that burden, scholars will receive a $400 stipend during their summer residency and another $400 at the program’s completion. Books, supplies, housing and meals are also supplied by the program.

“We want to expand on the excellent work that the ������Ƶ Academy has done,” Layne said. “There is such a large number of applicants for ������Ƶ Academy that they cannot accept them all. We want to offer the Freedom Scholars program as an option for those who weren’t able to be part of ������Ƶ Academy.”

Guilmette is excited by the impact the program will have for scholars as well as ������Ƶ’s undergraduates. She mentored youth in a Teagle Foundation program while pursuing undergraduate and advanced degrees. That “transformative” experience encouraged her to pursue teaching as a career.

Shelton believes the program will deepen ties within the community, strengthen undergraduate experiences and prove just as transformative for participating scholars.

“The two-week summer program is only the tip of the spear in terms of the scholars’ overall experience,” Shelton said. “This program furthers ������Ƶ’s commitment to college access and success and makes its resources available to members of the Alamance County community.”

• Visit this site to learn more about the program, including how to apply.

The Initiative will prepare local high school students from underserved populations for college, and mentor them to assume roles as active citizen-leaders in their communities. It will begin with a two-week immersive seminar in the summer of 2022, where the students will work intensively with ������Ƶ faculty and student undergraduate mentors to explore the principles and concepts of freedom, citizenship and democracy advanced in ancient, modern and contemporary texts. Each Freedom Scholar will identify a challenge facing their local community and design a service project around which they will apply the principles they have learned. At the conclusion of the project, they will each earn two semester hours of college credit.

The planning grant will allow Layne and her faculty team of Ryan Johnson, Lauren Guilmette, Kristina Meinking, and Joel Shelton to solidify the program’s structure, design materials, identify campus support, and promote the program within the community. The team will apply for additional Teagle Foundation funding to launch the program in 2022.

Read more about the innovative program here.