The Greyhound Editorial
LC to feast on Cooke grant
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Last week, Loyola received a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation enabling graduating seniors to serve as college counselors at nine high schools in the area. The grant represents a positive shift and a great opportunity for the College.
First, the commendation associated with receiving the grant ought to reflect positively on the strides made recently within the Education Department, including the recent inclusion of music education in the Masters program.
Moreover, the program that the grant will establish can provide yet another outlet for Loyola students of all majors to work at meaningful jobs in a professional setting. These students, who will be straddled with a hefty responsibility, will ideally represent themselves and Loyola well, expanding the College's reach and scope as well as strengthening their own base of experience and serving students in the area.
Similarly, the schools receiving counselors from Loyola will, in addition to supplementing its college advising staff, have the ancillary gain of adding the perspectives of college-aged students to their ranks. Equipped with first-hand experience of the changing climate at colleges and universities around the region, schools in Baltimore City and neighboring counties ought to be able to better prepare their students to enter those academic settings.
The grant, reflective of the mission of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, is a direction Loyola should move towards. Namely, efforts to provide scholarships to students with extraordinary financial needs should be increased, many upper echelon universities such as Harvard have been doing just that, and Loyola should strive to do so as well. Not only would such a move be consistent with the Jesuit ideals of the College, it would also help considerably to increase diversity on campus. Providing special need-based scholarships to qualified students is an effective way to make sure different economic classes are represented.
Ultimately, this grant advances Loyola's mission by integrating a service-oriented mission into a practical application that will hopefully reap many benefits. This is a great opportunity not only for Loyola students, but for the College to expand its already considerable presence in the surrounding area and move in a more inclusive direction.
First, the commendation associated with receiving the grant ought to reflect positively on the strides made recently within the Education Department, including the recent inclusion of music education in the Masters program.
Moreover, the program that the grant will establish can provide yet another outlet for Loyola students of all majors to work at meaningful jobs in a professional setting. These students, who will be straddled with a hefty responsibility, will ideally represent themselves and Loyola well, expanding the College's reach and scope as well as strengthening their own base of experience and serving students in the area.
Similarly, the schools receiving counselors from Loyola will, in addition to supplementing its college advising staff, have the ancillary gain of adding the perspectives of college-aged students to their ranks. Equipped with first-hand experience of the changing climate at colleges and universities around the region, schools in Baltimore City and neighboring counties ought to be able to better prepare their students to enter those academic settings.
The grant, reflective of the mission of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, is a direction Loyola should move towards. Namely, efforts to provide scholarships to students with extraordinary financial needs should be increased, many upper echelon universities such as Harvard have been doing just that, and Loyola should strive to do so as well. Not only would such a move be consistent with the Jesuit ideals of the College, it would also help considerably to increase diversity on campus. Providing special need-based scholarships to qualified students is an effective way to make sure different economic classes are represented.
Ultimately, this grant advances Loyola's mission by integrating a service-oriented mission into a practical application that will hopefully reap many benefits. This is a great opportunity not only for Loyola students, but for the College to expand its already considerable presence in the surrounding area and move in a more inclusive direction.
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