The Posse Foundation’s Deborah Bial will deliver Carleton’s weekly convocation address on Friday, Oct. 20 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. An education strategist, Bial addresses the challenges of college access for underrepresented populations by identifying and fostering latent talent and opening opportunities for them to pursue higher education. The title of her presentation is, “Diversity + Leadership and its Complicated Context.”
Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. They are recorded and archived for online viewing at go.carleton.edu/convo/.
Bial is president and founder of The Posse Foundation. Posse is one of the most comprehensive and renowned college access and youth leadership development programs in the United States.
Founded in 1989, Posse identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Traditional admissions metrics such as grade point average, class rank, and entrance exam scores have long been recognized as inadequate predictors of success for some undergraduates.
Through her Posse Foundation, Bial offers an alternative model for identifying promising young people from less advantaged, urban environments. The most promising students are invited to join a “posse,” a small group that participates in an eight-month, pre-collegiate training program that builds individual and team skills and serves as an essential social support system once students arrive at college. In parallel, she develops partnerships with admissions officials from dozens of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities, offering a powerful means to augment the cultural and economic diversity of their institutions.
Posse partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships. Posse currently has chapters in Atlanta, the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and Washington, D.C.
Bial holds MA and EdD degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as honorary degrees from Hamilton College, Colby College, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In 2007 she was awarded a prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. More at www.possefoundation.org.
This event is sponsored by Carleton College Communications. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4308. The Skinner Memorial Chapel is located and First and College Streets in Northfield.
