Adrian College Receives DaimlerChrysler Minority Award posted 2/27/08
College will use grant for new minority program, “Eyes on the Prize”

ADRIAN, Mich. – Adrian College has been awarded a DaimlerChrysler Minority Retention Award in the amount of $5,000 through the Michigan Colleges Foundation.

The award comes to Adrian College as a grant that was written for a new program entitled “Eyes on the Prize”. The new program is a two semester project that will address student retention and success by providing seminars on academic and real-life success strategies for minority students. “Eyes on the Prize” will also engage minority students in meaningful community service in the City of Adrian.

The program was Idalí Feliciano’s idea, Director of Multicultural Programs at the College.

“I came up with the idea for "Eyes on the Prize" because I believe that in order for minority students to succeed, they need to understand how higher education works, and how they can make it work for themselves,” says Feliciano.

The Michigan Colleges Foundation (MCF) is dedicated to providing students access to a values-based, high-quality education at their 14 member liberal arts colleges. MCF's 14 participating institutions are independent, four-year, liberal arts colleges, accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

The goals of “Eyes on the Prize” are to provide a firm linkage between being successful in college and successful in the career world, to engage students in meaningful volunteer work thereby increasing levels of civic and academic engagement, and to retain at least 85 percent of the participating students into their next academic year.

“Eyes on the Prize” will complement and enhance the College’s current minority peer and faculty mentoring programs. It will target 15 Adrian College minority sophomores and juniors who have successfully completed their freshman or sophomore years at the College.

Participants will be required to attend 20 seminars designed to offer them important life skills and academic skills. They will also have to choose a meaningful community service project appropriate for the student’s academic major or minor and provide at least 40 hours of volunteer service on their projects.

“The major reason why I am excited about "Eyes on the Prize" is because I believe that we need to provide students with the tools they need to ensure their academic success and graduation,” says Feliciano. “Students are quite capable of making decisions about what's best for themselves and we can make this happen by making sure that they understand financial aid, have positive mentors, engage in real life success strategies and become involved in meaningful community service opportunities.”

The Michigan Colleges Foundation was incorporated in 1949 to solicit financial support from the private sector on behalf of independent higher education in Michigan.

Each year, MCF unites hundreds of business volunteers with college representatives to participate in regional fund-raising campaigns across Michigan. To date, these campaigns have raised over $67 million for member institutions and their students.