Adrian College and Chandler Park Academy announce partnership agreement
Posted Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Author: Frank Hribar
Adrian College and Chandler Park Academy in Harper Woods have announced a new partnership agreement designed to expand educational opportunities and create a clearer pathway to an Adrian College education for Chandler Park Academy students.
The agreement continues Adrian College’s growing commitment to developing partnerships with schools and organizations throughout Michigan that make a private college education more accessible and attainable. The partnership will provide Chandler Park Academy students with enhanced opportunities to engage with Adrian College, learn about the college admission and financial aid process, visit campus, and explore pathways to enrollment.
The partnership also represents a renewal and recasting of the ASPIRES program, an initiative with longstanding connections to Adrian College and the late Dr. Tony Shipley, whose commitment to education and creating opportunities for young people helped inspire the original effort.
Adrian College President Dr. Jeffrey R. Docking said the agreement reflects the College’s broader commitment to building meaningful relationships with schools and communities.
“Adrian College has always believed that talent and potential exist in every community,” Docking said. “Our responsibility is to help students recognize that potential and provide them with pathways to transform it into opportunity. This partnership with Chandler Park Academy is about opening doors, building relationships and helping students understand that an Adrian College education is within their reach.”
The renewed initiative is being championed by Dr. Cornelia Shipley Bearyman and the Shipley Family Foundation, carrying forward the educational vision and legacy of her father.
“This partnership is especially meaningful because it builds upon my father’s belief in the transformative power of education,” Shipley Bearyman said. “He believed deeply in helping young people see possibilities for themselves that they may not yet have imagined. Through the Shipley Family Foundation, we are honored to work with Chandler Park Academy and Adrian College to renew that vision and create meaningful opportunities for another generation of students.”
Adrian College Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs Dr. Frank J. Hribar said the partnership is particularly meaningful to him because he remembers Dr. Shipley and the origins of the ASPIRES initiative.
“I had the privilege of knowing Tony Shipley and remember the passion he brought to creating educational opportunities for young people,” Hribar said. “To see Cornelia and the Shipley Family Foundation now helping spearhead the rebirth of this effort is incredibly special. We are not simply bringing back a program; we are building upon Tony’s vision and adapting it for a new generation of students.”
Hribar added that the agreement is consistent with other partnership initiatives Adrian College has developed to reduce barriers between high school and college.
“The best partnerships do more than provide a scholarship or put two institutional names on an agreement,” Hribar said. “They create a relationship. We want Chandler Park Academy students to become familiar with Adrian College early, visit our campus, know our people and understand the academic, financial and personal pathways available to them. The goal is to make the journey from Chandler Park Academy to Adrian College both visible and achievable.”
The partnership will include opportunities for increased communication and engagement between the two institutions, campus visits, college-readiness programming, admissions and financial aid support, and other initiatives intended to encourage Chandler Park Academy students to pursue and successfully complete a college education.
Docking said through the renewed ASPIRES initiative and its partnership with Chandler Park Academy, Adrian College hopes to create a model that honors an important legacy while addressing the needs and aspirations of today’s students.
“This is ultimately about students,” Docking said. “It is about helping talented young people imagine what comes next and then surrounding them with people and institutions committed to helping them get there.”
