The Bowdoin Orient

February 9, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 15

Posse program changing Bowdoin community

by BARBARA CONDLIFFE & JESSIE SOLOMON-GREENBAUM, STAFF WRITERS

   Bowdoin is not known for its diversity. In fact, like many small liberal arts colleges, Bowdoin is often cited as a "J. Crew" campus. With the introduction of the Posse program, however, Bowdoin is changing.
   For thirteen years, The Posse Foundation has offered urban public school students the opportunity to attend selective colleges and universities. In addition to receiving an excellent education, these students bring diverse experiences and strong leadership skills to their college communities.
   Bowdoin's first real experience with these students came last year as ten Posse students from Boston entered the Class of 2004. Due to the success of the Posse, Bowdoin has already selected Posse members for the Class of 2005.
   The need for a program such as the Posse group has been apparent for years. Trustees, alumni, faculty, and students have been concerned with the lack of racial and socioeconomic diversity at Bowdoin. For a long time the admissions office has been trying to strengthen efforts to recruit minority students.
   Coordinator of Multicultural Student Programs Wil Smith '00, explained that the traditional recruitment tactics were not working. Part of the problem was that all of the top colleges and universities were competing for the same select group of students.
   For many of these students, the prospect of going to a small, fairly homogenous school in Maine was not appealing. Furthermore, Smith explained that many of the minority students were being sought out simply because they "looked different," not because they brought a "different perspective to the classroom."
   In aiming to enhance the Bowdoin community, the College was not only looking to raise the percentage of minority students, but also to bring students of different experiences into the classroom and into Bowdoin's social scene.
   Starting off at Vanderbilt University, Posse has found enormous success at Middlebury, Leihigh, DePaul, Rice, and Wheaton. Bowdoin was impressed by Posse's reputation as the top talent-seeking program and made the decision to select Posse students from the Boston area.
   Posse is a highly selective, need-blind scholarship program. Many people do not realize that it is not solely a scholarship for minorities but instead focuses on reaching a wide range of urban public school students.
   The applicant pool last year for Bowdoin started out with a pool of over 300 applicants who all excelled academically and as leaders. Each applicant was recommended by a teacher, principal or leader from his or her community. After narrowing the pool down to twenty-five students, Bowdoin joined in the selection process.
   Posse calls their recruitment efforts the "dynamic assessment process." Smith said, "picking the ten finalists was one of the hardest things I've ever experienced."
   To pick the final ten students, the Posse recruiters, Bowdoin admissions officers, and other members of the Bowdoin community went down to Boston. In this intensive screening process, they focused on the individual qualities of the applicants as well as their group dynamic.
   Unlike most Bowdoin first years who begin their college experience in August, the Posse begins meeting in January. They meet once a week and participate in several different workshops emphasizing leadership, writing, teamwork, and cross-cultural communication.
   Their training continues throughout the year and is run primarily by Smith, who acts as their mentor. This training includes weekly, two-hour group meetings run either by Smith or by members of the group.
   Smith explains that these meetings focus on whatever is on the students' mind. Some of the issues covered include culture shock, time management, and the dating scene at Bowdoin. Each member also has a biweekly individual meeting with Smith.
   The purpose of this ongoing training is to both aid the transition into the Bowdoin community and to help the Posse members reach their potential. The Posse motto is to affect the campus, the community, and the world.
   Smith elaborated by saying, "We are producing leaders…these students will continue to lead by virtue of their individual, dynamic personalities."
   Bowdoin is already feeling the effects of the Posse program. This year's first-year class is the most diverse class ever, with minority students constituting eighteen percent of the group.
   Smith explained that the presence of Posse is already helping to attract more diversity to Bowdoin. At Bowdoin's annual minority recruitment weekend, The Bowdoin Experience, in April, minority students were encouraged by Bowdoin's obvious commitment to diversity and by the understanding that there were already ten minority students coming in the fall.
   One of the major concerns originally voiced by Bowdoin students and faculty about the Posse program was that other students would feel excluded from this established group. Many expressed concerns that Posse would be a segregated group on campus, and other minorities might feel left out or overlooked.
   Smith said that this question of segregation or cliques is an institutional question at all colleges.
   As the Posse members have branched out into the community, though, much of this criticism has dissipated.
   Smith also emphasized that Posse members should be looked at as individuals. "They are all very different people; they are all leaders in their own right."
   Although Posse has been a great success, Smith hopes that his office will be able to reach even more students in the future. He does not think that other minority students feel excluded, but he does wish that there were more support systems intact for them.
   "I reach a fair amount of them, but there are those that slip through," he said.
   Smith said that he is very excited about the future of diversity at Bowdoin, and that he believes Bowdoin did the right thing. "The school was ready for [Posse]. The timing was right…the school was asking the right questions, and they did the right thing."
   Bowdoin is already committed to the Posse program for at least the next two years. Smith's hope is that Posse "will influence the environment such that Bowdoin will become an attractive place for students of color."

Colin LeCroy/Bowdoin Orient