Potential on the Periphery: College Access from the Ground Up
Book Reading @Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe Asheville, NC | March 12th 6:00-7:30 pm
Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe 55 Haywood Street | Asheville, NC 28801 828.254.6734 | www.malaprops.com
“Simmons provides families and educators with valuable information on effective practices involving both access to college and academic success. His analysis includes practical suggestions and a substantial review of the literature, along with policy recommendations and actual solutions. Most importantly, he brings first-hand experience in working with students throughout their higher education experiences, and he inspires us with their stories.”
–Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Even high-performing students sometimes need assistance to transform their high school achievement into a higher education outcome that matches their potential, especially when those students come from vulnerable backgrounds. Without intervention, many of these students, lost in the transition between secondary school and higher education, would not attend selective colleges that provide greater opportunities. Potential on the Periphery profiles the Simmons Memorial Foundation (SMF), a grassroots non-profit organization co-founded by author Omari Scott Simmons, that promotes college access for students in North Carolina and Delaware. Simmons discusses how the organization has helped students secure admission and succeed in college, using this example to contextualize the broader realm of existing education practice, academic theory, and public policy. Using data gleaned from interviews with past student participants in the programs run by the SMF, Simmons illuminates the underlying factors thwarting student achievement, such as inadequate information about college options, limited opportunities for social capital acquisition, financial pressures, self-doubt, and political weakness. Simmons then identifies policy solutions and pragmatic strategies that college access organizations can adopt to address these factors.
Available for purchase at the following outlets:
Pictured from Left to Right: Justice Randy J. Holland, Delaware Supreme Court; Professor Omari Simmons; WFU Law Dean Suzanne Reynolds; and Thomas Sager, Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP, former DuPont SVP and General Counsel.
Delaware Supreme Court Justice Randy J. Holland spoke at Wake Forest Law at noon on Thursday, April 7, in the Worrell Professional Center, Room 1312, as part of the Business Law Program’s new Sager Speaker Series. Professor Omari Simmons interviewed Justice Holland in a “Conversation With” style format.
The Sager Speaker Series is named for Thomas Sager (JD ’76), former vice president and general counsel for Dupont Co., and current partner at Ballard Spahr LLP. Mr. Sager was a strong and early proponent of diversity in the legal profession and helped pioneer the DuPont Convergence and Law Firm Partnering Program, or DuPont Legal Model, an industry benchmark that has received national acclaim for its innovative approach to the business of practicing law. Read More