Posse expands to Chicago

Beginning in the fall of 2011, the College will recruit 10 Posse Scholars from Chicago in addition to the roughly 10 students selected each year from New York City.

For the past 12 years, Middlebury has been a partner school to The Posse Foundation, offering full four-year scholarships to students selected and mentored by the foundation, or Posse Scholars. The Posse Foundation works within the public school systems of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and Washington, D.C. to identify and prepare talented student leaders from diverse backgrounds for attendance at one of Posse’s 39 prestigious partner institutions. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz spoke to the success of the Posse program at Middlebury.

“So many on campus, and on the board of trustees, are strong believers in the Posse program because of the diversity, leadership and talents our Posse Scholars bring to Middlebury,” said Liebowitz. “I believe the Posse Foundation does an exceptional job identifying and then mentoring talented students — students who otherwise might never apply to Middlebury — who then make great contributions to our campus.”

Middlebury was the fourth school to forge a relationship with The Posse Foundation, and it will join the ranks of approximately one third of the current partner schools that draw Posse Scholars from multiple cities. Middlebury will be only the second New England school to recruit through Posse Chicago, the other being Trinity College. Dean of the College, Chief Diversity Officer and former Vice President of The Posse Foundation Shirley Collado, who was also a member of the foundation’s first graduating class, attributes the expansion of the College’s relationship with Posse to an already successful history together.

“The College has experienced a very positive and rewarding partnership with The Posse Foundation and was looking to expand the program to another city for the last few years,” said Collado. “We took a close look at the program and its success, examined our admissions efforts and diversity goals and came to the conclusion that this would be a wise investment for the College.”

According to Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett, the College currently draws around 10 percent of the student body from the Midwest, and recruiting in the Chicago area through Posse will further the College’s goal to increase that percentage.

“I have no doubt that being a part of Posse Chicago will significantly enhance Middlebury's visibility in that important part of the country,” said Clagett. “We are, of course, always trying to improve our outreach efforts in different parts of the country and around the world to help keep Middlebury as geographically diverse as possible, and the Midwest has been an important part of the effort.”

By 2016, two teams of Posse Scholars, or posses, will make up 20 students in each class, doubling the number of Posse Scholars on campus today from 40 to 80. Collado called this number a “critical mass of leaders.”

“As I imagine in four years having 80 [Posse] Scholars on campus from two major cities in this country, the power of that is really promising to me,” said Collado. “Not so much in terms of numbers, but the kind of talent and leadership and academic promise that I know these students will bring from two of the largest and most diverse public school systems in the country.”

President and Founder of The Posse Foundation Debbie Bial said increasing the number of Posse Scholars on campus benefits The Posse Foundation as much as it does the College.

“Nationally we had more than 12,000 nominations for 500 slots, so the fact that Middlebury is saying, ‘We have more room for these great kids,’ — I don’t know what could make anyone happier in this situation,” said Bial. “A lot of schools have separate programs that end up creating segregated diversity, but [Liebowitz] really gets it, and I am very appreciative of having a partner like him who knows how to address some of the difficult issues related to building a diverse community… It was a no-brainer when [Liebowitz] wanted to bring in the second posse, and it’s great for Chicago kids to have the opportunity to go to Middlebury.”

Collado believes maintaining a close relationship with The Posse Foundation will continue to do great things for all of the parties involved.

“I think this will be a win-win for Middlebury, for The Posse Foundation, for Posse scholars and Middlebury students in general,” said Collado.