Posse: a support system before college even starts

When Meera Ramsoondar '07 was a senior in high school, her guidance counselor gave her a packet of college scholarship applications, among them a form that nominated her for the Posse Foundation scholarship. Only a year earlier, Ramsoondar had moved to Brooklyn, N.Y. from Trinidad and Tobego, but already, she was one of the top ranked students at her school. Two years and three rounds of intense interviews later, she is beginning her second year on a full tuition scholarship at Brandeis, one of a group of 10 students who met the winter before they began college and trained together to be student leaders.

According to the Posse Foundation's Web site, the organization recruits and trains youth leaders from urban high schools and sends these students in groups, or "posses," to top colleges and universities.

"The best part is knowing you have a family," Ramsoondar said.

There are 40 Posse scholars at Brandeis in total, as each incoming class since the fall of 1998 has contained a group of 10. The 'generations' further magnify the support system, according to scholars.


"We have a real connection," Posse scholar Engy Lamour '07 said. "The upperclassmen treat us like little brothers and little sisters."


Posse scholars noted that a common misconception about Posse is that applicants must belong to a minority group.

"I'm white and I'm in Posse," Christine Caruso '07 said. She said that people make assumptions based on the diverse makeup of each Posse class.

"Because New York City is so diverse, if you take the top five kids from each New York City school, it's obvious that they'll be diverse," Caruso said. "Posse is not a minority outreach program."


"You'll find that the demographic of the Posses coincide with the city it is based in," Posse scholar Kyle Turner '06 explained. The foundation recruits students from New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., though all of Brandeis' Posse scholars are from the five boroughs of New York City.


Each year, approximately 1,200 students in New York City apply to be Posse scholars, according to Kim Godsoe, the Brandeis coordinator of Posse. These students go through a rigorous application process called the Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP). Godsoe explained that during DAP, "students are given tasks and are then evaluated on their leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.

"You do things that are not predictable," Ramsoondar said about the first round of interviews, declining to give more details because she said future applicants should find out on their own.


Next, a select group is invited for interviews, and, in December, the 25 to 30 students who exhibit the strongest academic and leadership skills meet with representatives from Brandeis. It is from this group that the 10-person posse is chosen.


According to Turner, who is a co-president of the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO), the admissions procedure began with group interviews with 800 students, and culminated in individual interviews with two Posse trainers.


Micheline Frias '07 said that after surviving the grueling screening process, the selected scholars specify their top three school choices among the 22 Posse partner schools, and the foundation decides which college suits them best.

The students are awarded full tuition scholarships to one of the partner schools for four years.


Accepted students then form a close-knit group, with the intention of sticking up for one another and ensuring and encouraging success in an academic atmosphere.

"Anyone could benefit from that," Frias said. "You meet so many incredible individuals from such diverse backgrounds, and you share the same experiences."


Beginning in January of their senior year of high school, the 10 scholars undergo leadership training. They continue to meet with a Posse mentor once weekly during their first two years at Brandeis.


Each spring, the Posse scholars organize a weekend retreat and invite approximately 100 students, faculty and staff. According to Godsoe, past years' retreats have examined themes such as Social Pressures at Brandeis, Race and Identity, and Gender and Sexuality at Brandeis.

The Posse Foundation was the brainchild of a Brandeis alumna, Deborah Bial '87, who is now the foundation's president. Bial used to work for a non-profit educational organization in New York City.

"She was seeing that the students that she helped with their education didn't all graduate," said Edgar Ndjatou, '06, Posse scholar and senator for racial minorities.


Bial's students told her that they could have succeeded in higher education if they had the support of their 'posses.' So, in 1989, the concept of the Posse was formed.

Many Posse scholars now hold high positions in the Brandeis community. In addition to Turner and Ndjatou's positions, Engy Lamour '07 is the treasurer of BBSO, Ammatullah Morgan '06 is BBSO's secretary, Shakiva Wade, '07 is the BBSO representative to the Intercultural Center (ICC) and Tae Youn Jacob Kim '06 serves as the director of diversity affairs for the Student Union Executive Board.


"Posse Scholars are leaders in the classroom, and they are leaders in campus activities," Godsoe said. "They bring a tremendous amount of positive energy to the campus."


First-year Orientation Coordinator Alana Hamlett, '06 said that the Posse Foundation helped her a great deal in her scholarly endeavors. She felt that the skills she gained from Posse training, along with the built-in support system, contributed to her substantial success at the University. She commented on both the practicality and helpfulness of the atmosphere Posse creates. "We're all spread out, but we support each other."


Although the scholarship can provide amazing opportunities to members of groups widely underrepresented on college campuses, drawbacks can exist too. Since Posse scholars feel so closely connected with their Posse, isolation could be a natural progression.

"People have this negative connotation of Posse [concerning isolation.] Initially, you come in and only know your Posse, so you are more comfortable with them, but you eventually branch out just like everyone else," Frias said. "It's not like we're here on a mission, we're just regular college students doing what college students do."

In the grand scheme of things, however, any weakness is minimal. "There is always the isolation, which rarely affects most of us, or there's even resentment because of the circumstances of how you got to school," Turner said. "But you combat that by just worrying about yourself and looking out for those who care about you."


Posse continues to create positive effects in the Brandeis community. "I've been impressed with the Posse program and how it has brought in so many intelligent, talented students who have taken on leadership roles at Brandeis," said Suzie Talukdar, director of the ICC. "Many Posse Scholars have held executive board positions in various clubs housed in the Intercultural Center, within the Student Union and beyond.


The method also succeeds in the long run. According to the foundation's Web site, Posse scholars have a 90 percent graduation rate, which is higher than the United States overall graduation rate in institutions of higher learning.

"The program has its strength in that you aren't going to school alone and you go through a training process to gain some trust and get to know one another a little," Turner said.

"In effect you end up going to school with a group of people who you respect and feel very good about. If you ask me, this is a great way to go to school.