35th Anniversary Celebrates
Proud Past, Promising Future of
Marquette Educational Opportunity Program

Three Minority PhD Fellows Announced

Released: October 14, 2004

MILWAUKEE – Marquette University is proud to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), an academic program that motivates and enables low-income and first generation college-bound students to enter and succeed in higher education.

As part of the weekend-long anniversary celebration, Marquette will formally recognize the first recipients of the Mitchem Dissertation Fellowship, a program that provides support to minority doctoral candidates while they finish their dissertations. The event will take place outside the EOP offices on the fourth floor of Marquette Hall at 4:00 p.m. on October 15, 2004 . Dr. Arnold Mitchem, the namesake of the program, will be in attendance to congratulate the fellows.

A Proud Past: The Educational Opportunity Program

The first EOP class, recruited in 1969, was made up of 40 undergraduate students, and funded with a modest grant of $40,000. Thirty-five years later, the program has expanded to more than 100 pre-college and undergraduate students per year, and is funded by four grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

“This program brings together diverse people to create an extended family with similar values and goals, and turns student aspirations into student achievements,” said Alexander Peete, an EOP alumnus who currently serves as an associate director of the program. “It created a fertile ground for me to grow from humble beginnings, and provided me with tools and opportunities for a grand future.”

Marquette 's EOP program now includes:

• Upward Bound , a pre-college program that prepares high school students to enter and successfully complete college. It accepts young people from either low-income families or from families where the parents do not have college degrees.
• SAMM (Science and Mathematics at Marquette), a pre-college Math and Science Upward Bound program offering specialized math, science, writing and technology classes.
• Student Support Services enrolls eligible students who show potential for success at Marquette . It offers a network of supportive services, financial aid assistance, a pre-enrollment summer program, academic counseling, specialized courses, seminars and tutoring.
• The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program prepares eligible students for graduate school. During the academic year, students attend monthly seminars, meet visiting scholars, and participate in student and professional conferences.

Some EOP alumni are household names in Milwaukee , and in fact, across the state. They include state Senator Gwen Moore, current candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, if elected, Moore will become the first African American elected to Congress from Wisconsin; Wisconsin State Representative Pedro Colon; Willie Hines, president of the Milwaukee Common Council; Ashanti Hamilton, Milwaukee alderman; and Rubin Anthony, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

A Promising Future: The Mitchem Dissertation Fellowship

A key factor in diversity in higher education is a strong presence of culturally diverse faculty members. Despite recent increases in doctoral degree attainment, fewer than 12% of doctoral degree recipients in 2000 and fewer than 10% of full time U.S. faculty were African American, Hispanic/Latino or American Indian/Alaska Native, although these groups represented more than 30% of the adult U.S population. The Mitchem Fellowship at Marquette University aims to directly address this level of under-representation in higher education.

"In its 35 year history at Marquette , the EOP program has helped to pave a path to success for hundreds of minority students." said Marquette President Robert Wild, S.J.  "We are proud to now build on our commitment to diversity with the first Mitchem Dissertation Fellowships.  It is essential that the professorial ranks in this country become more reflective of the diversity of the students in the classroom.  The Mitchem Fellowship Program is a positive step toward that goal."

Named after the founder of Marquette 's EOP program, Dr. Arnold Mitchem, the fellowship is awarded to scholars from under-represented racial and cultural groups who are working on their dissertations. The fellowship provides students from other U.S. universities one year of financial support, including a stipend, fringe benefits, and research and travel funds. This year, Marquette is proud to award the first three fellowships. The appointees are:

• Sheila Collins, a doctoral candidate in the department of English at the University of Kentucky,
• Amina Lolita Gautier, a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania, and
• Elizabeth Arbuckle Wabindato, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan.

The three fellows are in residence at Marquette for the 2004-2005 academic year, during which they will teach one course in their area of specialization while completing their dissertations. They will also participate in a formal mentoring program.

The Namesake

Dr. Arnold L. Mitchem earned his doctorate in education from Marquette in 1981, and is an internationally recognized champion of educational opportunity. Mitchem founded Marquette 's Educational Opportunity Program and served as its director from 1969-86; currently he is president of the Council for Educational Opportunity in Washington , D.C.

For more information on the Educational Opportunity Program, Dr. Mitchem, or the Mitchem Fellowship, please contact Jennifer Schwarz in the Office of Public Affairs at Marquette University.