{"id":258322,"date":"2017-07-27T16:28:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T20:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=258322"},"modified":"2017-08-03T11:26:56","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T15:26:56","slug":"summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer program gives African students bridge to college"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a boy, Enock Kivuyo would gaze out the window each morning from Moshono Primary School in Tanzania, and watch buses drive children to School of St. Jude a mile down the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe place looked so nice,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to go there.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 7 years old, Kivuyo walked alone to the charity-funded school, which sponsors the poorest and brightest children in the area, and asked for an interview. He left with a scholarship.<\/p>\n

Soon, he was teaching his family English and tutoring children in his neighborhood in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro.<\/p>\n

Seventeen years later, Kivuyo is ready to conquer another mountain as a first-year student at the University of Rochester.<\/p>\n

This summer he\u2019s getting a preview of what\u2019s to come as part of Early Connection Africa. It\u2019s a four-week bridge program for African students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are starting college not just at Rochester, but elsewhere in the United States, as well as Germany, and several African nations.<\/p>\n

\"student
Enoch Kivuyo of Tanzania speaks during his economics class in the Early Connection Africa program. Kivuyo will enroll as a first-year student at Rochester in the fall. (University photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The program grew out of one started by the African Leadership Academy<\/a><\/strong> in Johannesburg, South Africa. The academy\u2014a residential secondary school that draws students from around the continent based on academic and leadership potential\u2014offered a two-day program for 25 students in Kenya in 2012 and sought to expand it from there. In 2014, they selected Rochester as their partner. Since then the academy and the College\u2019s admissions office have jointly run a significantly expanded program.<\/p>\n

Rochester has enrolled 61 students from the African Leadership Academy since 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe earned this opportunity to host due to OMSA\u2019s [Office of Minority Student Affairs<\/a><\/strong>] many years of building a successful model with the Early Connection Opportunity program for [mostly] American students enrolling at Rochester, plus our larger commitment to African undergraduate scholars,\u201d says Jonathan Burdick, vice provost for enrollment initiatives and dean of admissions and financial aid.<\/p>\n

This summer there are 31 students living here and taking classes as part of Early Connection Africa. All are beneficiaries of the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program,<\/strong><\/a> whose mission is to develop young leaders from disadvantaged backgrounds in Africa. Everything from tuition, room and board, health insurance, and laptops are covered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want finances to be a barrier to the students\u2019 success,\u201d says Suzanne Hunter, who manages recruitment for the scholars program for the African Leadership Academy.<\/p>\n

Early Connection Africa reflects Rochester\u2019s commitment to globalism\u2014helping to develop leaders not only at home, but abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir commitment to going back home and being agents of change is huge for us,\u201d says Joseph Latimer, the University\u2019s assistant dean for enrollment, diversity, and outreach. \u201cIt\u2019s what this is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out of that first group of 12 in Kenya came Eddy Oketch, who graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and earned his master\u2019s at Yale. He\u2019s now running for Senate in Kenya.<\/p>\n

Last summer\u2019s group included Emmanuel Gweamee \u201920, who, along with Rochester classmate Aime Laurent Twizerimana \u201920, won a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace grant for their work expanding voting education and access for young Liberians with physical disabilities.<\/p>\n

Students are placed in universities by Hunter and her colleagues based on their academic achievement and interests. Kivuyo, one of three who will attend Rochester, plans to major in financial economics.<\/p>\n

The program began July 9 and ends August 5. Students live in Burton Hall and attend classes in math, economics, writing, and politics taught by University masters and PhD students. They eat in Danforth Dining Hall and engage in social and team-building activities.<\/p>\n

\"group
Students, staff, and instructors of Early Connection Africa stop for a photo on the Eastman Quadrangle. Rochester hosts the four-week program, helping students jump start their college careers. \u00a0(University photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing experience,\u201d says Enky Mhlong, a South Africa native headed to Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. \u201cTime management was a big problem for me, but I\u2019ve learned how to balance my time with this program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mhlong lost her mother in 2008 and her aunt, who had been the family\u2019s breadwinner, in 2009. She lives with her grandmother and younger brother in Nkomazi, South Africa, and has been able to excel in academic and leadership roles. She intends to major in nutritional sciences and biomedical engineering at Westminster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where I would be without this program, or the scholarship,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 30 students from sub-Saharan Africa are River Campus this summer as part of the Early Connection Africa program, preparing for college life and taking classes in math, economics, writing, and politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":258562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[29502,19242,28042],"class_list":["post-258322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-featured-post-side","tag-global-engagement","tag-office-of-minority-student-affairs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSummer program gives African students bridge to college<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summer program gives African students bridge to college\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More than 30 students from sub-Saharan Africa are River Campus this summer as part of the Early Connection Africa program, preparing for college life and taking classes in math, economics, writing, and politics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-27T20:28:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-03T15:26:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Mandelaro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Mandelaro\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim Mandelaro\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/35537746af700f24d7e52e350d95b124\"},\"headline\":\"Summer program gives African students bridge to college\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-27T20:28:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-03T15:26:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":776,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"featured-post-side\",\"global engagement\",\"Office of Minority Student Affairs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Campus & Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/\",\"name\":\"Summer program gives African students bridge to college\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-27T20:28:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-03T15:26:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/35537746af700f24d7e52e350d95b124\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Enky Mhlongo of South Africa (left) walks across campus with Princesse Mutesi Karemera of the Democratic Republic of Congo as they spend time on River Campus as part of Early Connection Africa, a summer program that brings more than 30 students from sub-Saharan Africa to Rochester. All 38 are headed to college in the fall; three will attend Rochester. (University photo \\\/ J. Adam Fenster)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Summer program gives African students bridge to college\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/35537746af700f24d7e52e350d95b124\",\"name\":\"Jim Mandelaro\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/jmandelaro\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Summer program gives African students bridge to college","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Summer program gives African students bridge to college","og_description":"More than 30 students from sub-Saharan Africa are River Campus this summer as part of the Early Connection Africa program, preparing for college life and taking classes in math, economics, writing, and politics.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2017-07-27T20:28:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-03T15:26:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim Mandelaro","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim Mandelaro","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim Mandelaro","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/35537746af700f24d7e52e350d95b124"},"headline":"Summer program gives African students bridge to college","datePublished":"2017-07-27T20:28:21+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-03T15:26:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/"},"wordCount":776,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg","keywords":["featured-post-side","global engagement","Office of Minority Student Affairs"],"articleSection":["Campus & Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/","name":"Summer program gives African students bridge to college","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-27T20:28:21+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-03T15:26:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/35537746af700f24d7e52e350d95b124"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/fea-early-connection-africa.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"Enky Mhlongo of South Africa (left) walks across campus with Princesse Mutesi Karemera of the Democratic Republic of Congo as they spend time on River Campus as part of Early Connection Africa, a summer program that brings more than 30 students from sub-Saharan Africa to Rochester. All 38 are headed to college in the fall; three will attend Rochester. (University photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-program-gives-african-students-bridge-college-258322\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Summer program gives African students bridge to college"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/35537746af700f24d7e52e350d95b124","name":"Jim Mandelaro","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/jmandelaro\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/672"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258322"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258732,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258322\/revisions\/258732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}