by Erika K. Smith, Brandeis University

The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits, and selects student leaders from public high schools to form multicultural teams called "Posses." Through an intensive eight-month training program, team members are prepared for enrollment at top universities nationwide, where they pursue their academics and help to promote cross-cultural communication on campus. In this article, Posse alumna Erika Smith describes how this unique model trains young leaders.

The Posse Foundation is a scholarship program taking a groundbreaking approach to addressing issues of access, diversity, and retention in higher education. Through a unique selection process, Posse makes every effort to ensure that future world leaders are neither overlooked by traditional admissions methods nor impeded by external factors from pursuing college careers. At the core of the model are "Posses"-groups of diverse teams of students who work collectively as change agents on societal issues that affect them directly. As a Posse alumna, I personally have been enriched by this phenomenal organization.

Founded in 1989, the Posse Foundation sent its first group of five students to Vanderbilt University with a threefold mission:

• Recruiting students who have extraordinary leadership ability and academic potential that might be overlooked by the traditional university selection process

• Devoting the resources and support necessary to allow these students to strive for personal achievement and academic excellence, reach graduation, and effect positive changes on their college campus and in their community

• Modeling diversity
  

The Posse Foundation is a scholarship program taking a groundbreaking approach to addressing issues of access, diversity, and retention in higher education. . . At the core of the model are "Posses"-groups of diverse teams of students who work collectively as change agents on societal issues that affect them directly.

• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Cross-cultural dialogue
• Academic skill building

During these training sessions the students begin, as a team, to closely examine issues they may face on campus. Posse trainers-staff members, 50 percent of whom are Posse alumni who specialize in counseling students and guiding them through the training curriculum-run the training sessions at each home office. The curriculum is designed to cultivate the students' awareness and ability to affect their surroundings. Students learn to view issues including racism, gender issues, and conflict resolution from a global perspective. This development continues and intensifies as Posse scholars matriculate at Posse's partner schools.

On campus, Posse mentors-graduate students, faculty members, or administrators at the college or university-facilitate weekly group meetings. In addition to helping the students further their development as a team, the mentors meet with students individually to monitor their academic and personal growth. After the first two years, Posse scholars continue to guide each other through the rest of their college careers. Recently, the Posse Foundation added a career development component to its support services.

Campus Impact
With this comprehensive support system, the students are ready to effect change on campus in two major ways:

• Changing the cultural climate. Although the Posse partner universities tend to be ethnically and racially homogeneous, each Posse is diverse and representative of the city they come from. In this respect, the Posse models diversity for their campus. Many of the students and faculty at these institutions are not accustomed to seeing people from different backgrounds work together, especially in the way a Posse does. Because the Posse has practiced working together for eight months before they get to campus, they are already functioning as a unit once they arrive.

• Initiating dialogue. During the school year, the Posse analyzes campus dynamics and collectively selects a major issue to address at an off-campus retreat. The topics range from "School Spirit" to "Race, Class, Gender, Diversity: Have We Progressed?" Each scholar invites two or three classmates to attend. Taking these individuals off campus allows representatives of the campus community to discuss difficult ssues in a private setting. These retreats are often a starting point in opening up some of the racial and social issues that often brew on a campus and are, too often, not addressed.

Life After Posse
The sidebars below describe the Posse experiences of two scholars, Kenroy and Jasmine, whose stories offer a concrete sense of how the Posse program fosters individual growth, self-empowerment, and community building. These examples, while powerful in themselves, show only a fraction of the Posse universe. Although Posse is now at 11 colleges and universities, Jasmine, Kenroy, and many other Posse scholars share the hope that the Posse program will be present at many more campuses nationwide, promoting further cross-cultural communication and serving as a catalyst for increased individual and community development.

Sidebar 1 Selection Plus Support Equals Success: Kenroy's Story

Sidebar 2 An Activist in the Making: Jasmine's Story

My own experience is best characterized by the high levels of support and professional development I have received both as a Posse scholar and a Posse alumna. Posse guided me through a challenging undergraduate program in mechanical engineering at Lehigh University. Although I discovered early on that I did not want to pursue a career in engineering, I refused to quit-I felt that as a potential role model with the ability to finish the program, it was my responsibility to do so.

Posse staff was key in guiding me through what became not only a difficult academic journey, but a difficult personal journey as well. In working with the staff, I came to admire and appreciate their careful guidance. Their leadership inspired me to make a drastic career change-I now work in a Community Youth Development environment where I can best use my experiences and skills to help others in the same ways I received help.

Posse staff was key in guiding me through [my academic] journey. I now work in a Community Youth Development environment where I can best use my experiences and skills to help others in the same ways I received help.