 Wesley White outside his alma mater, the Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School. White is being assisted in his college education by comedian and actor Bill Cosby. (Photo by Mark M. Murray) |
|
Posted on 06/11/2008 8:39:39 AM PDT by Incorrigible
By MARLA A. GOLDBERG
Wesley White outside his alma mater, the Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School. White is being assisted in his college education by comedian and actor Bill Cosby. (Photo by Mark M. Murray) |
|
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Comedian Bill Cosby took four young people under his wing in 2004, to provide guidance, support and education — even free tuition. But they have since faced major challenges.
None of them graduated on schedule with this year's class from Hampton University in Virginia.
In an interview, Cosby expressed empathy for the young men and their struggles. He said the Springfield schools may not have prepared them well enough for a rigorous college curriculum. And, despite their tenacity in the face of numerous struggles, the youths were impacted by economic and family problems, Cosby said.
One, Wesley White, 22, is expected to finish his studies in December and hopes to attend graduate school to become a physical therapist.
About 57 percent of college freshmen get their bachelor's degrees even within six years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
White, who is now majoring in psychology, said Hampton has been "a great experience," and Cosby has given him an excellent opportunity.
"I'm very grateful for everything he's done," White said.
Nonetheless, White said his early days at Hampton were a struggle, because he "basically had to learn how to study from scratch," after experiencing few academic challenges at Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical High School.
Maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average at Hampton, which Cosby set as a target for the young men he is assisting, requires "pretty much just cutting everything else out," White said.
Another "Cosby kid," Loren Wilder, 22, was attending Hampton but was derailed by a bad car accident in October. Wilder has been back home in Springfield, working at Walgreen's for several months, and is seeking re-admission to the college in September.
Two other youths who attended Putnam and were offered the tuition-free education, Shamael Shortte and Jimmy Hester, left Hampton and could not be reached.
Shortte, who in 2005 needed to attend summer school to raise his grade point average, was said to be home working in Springfield last year. Meanwhile, Dawn Rodgers, a former Putnam guidance counselor who is now a ninth-grade graduation coach at Springfield Central and Commerce high schools, said Hester is living in Boston with family.
Although not identifying any of the four specifically, Cosby talked about teenagers who have been homeless or in foster care and who may be the first generation in their families to attend college. For such students, socializing and competing academically against people from more stable backgrounds can be fraught with anxiety and complications, he said.
"Could they connect? Could they feel that things were not going to be snatched out from under them?" Cosby asked. "I'm talking about the emotion of a kid who is just wondering about so many things ... that other people have in this world."
According to Cosby, Hampton University has been supportive of the Springfield youths. They are "watched over" by university President William R. Harvey's office. "The president even gave a couple of the boys clothing," he said.
Cosby, who noted that "You Can Make It If You Really Try," by Sly & the Family Stone is one of his favorite songs, said he hasn't given up on any of the young men. He said he will continue paying tuition, but "only if they're doing the correct things. ... If a young man decides that he wants to play ... (or) go in a direction that wasn't cool ... we might very well say, 'No, not on our dime anymore.'"
Cosby, who lives in Shelburne, read an article in The Republican newspaper in Springfield about Wilder and Hester in 2004, when they were 18-year-old seniors at Putnam. The two, who were sharing an apartment and had essentially raised themselves since their early or mid-teens, worked part-time jobs, clipped coupons and played football while earning excellent grades at Putnam.
Cosby was struck by their story and offered to help, taking Wilder and Hester on his private jet to tour historically black colleges. The youths settled on Hampton University, and Cosby soon extended his offer of support to two of their friends, White and Shortte.
Wilder, who eventually had to give up football at Hampton, suffered head trauma last October in an accident in Virginia when a truck he was driving hit a curb and flipped over. Wilder had minor bleeding to the brain and also needed stitches. He was told to go home rather than back to his dormitory, where he could be vulnerable to staph infection.
Wilder said he spoke to Cosby about leaving school to recuperate. "He told me just to take it easy," Wilder said.
Rodgers, who is still a liaison between Cosby and the young men, said she appreciates Cosby's understanding and flexibility. "I think Mr. Cosby was so supportive in giving Loren the time to decide what was best for him in that point in his life," she said.
Rodgers said she met Cosby at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at a 2004 event to honor some Springfield high school students, and Cosby took an interest in her work. The two now speak regularly. "If there's anything I want to talk to him about, I can call him. We kind of bat things around a lot," Rodgers said, adding their conversations often focus on urban youth, inner cities and politics.
Rodgers said she called Cosby on May 17, to tell him that Central basketball team captain and honor student Mario Hornsby Jr., 19, had been shot. Police have said that Hornsby was standing outside with friends, and was struck accidentally when shots were fired into the group. Kieson Cuffee, 17, of Springfield, was arrested and charged with Hornsby's murder.
Rodgers said she and Cosby "share these concerns about the tragedies that are affecting youth."
(Marla A. Goldberg is a staff writer for The Republican of Springfield, Mass. She can be contacted at mgoldberg(at)repub.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Bill Cosby is not just a scold, he puts his money where his mouth is.
Wonder how the press would treat this if a rich white guy was only helping out poor white kids...
And it sounds like these kids are trying, which is all anybody can do. They do start behind the 8-ball, given that they are having to make up for a lack of family support and elementary/secondary education.
Only the very talented and determined can completely overcome that sort of disadvantage. There's no substitute for moms and dads who teach their kids their letters, expose them to good art and music, take them to summer camp, and send them to good schools where they get a good foundation.
They are taking advantage of what they are able to take advantage of.
But I would think that a year off between high school and college with a private tutor might be a good idea. That used to be the custom in England with just about any boy who was planning to try for a place in one of the Oxford colleges (or at the Other University). You can do a lot in a year with one-on-one teaching and make up a lot of lost ground. Always assuming that the kid wants to learn -- and that seems to be the case with these students.
Wonder how many kids, not biologically their own, Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton have paid out of their own pockets to educate?
Springfield, Mass, another Democrat stronghold.
Good article. It’s very realistic about the challenges the young men face.
I wish Bill Cosby would run for congress or something he gets what the real problem is.
You saying Appalachia is 100% white???
But the mountain folk (we don't say "Appalachia", some flatlander started that, and he probably worked for the gummint) are overwhelmingly of Scots-Irish and English West Country descent, and the black population was minuscule until very recent times. Nobody up there owned slaves, many couldn't even support their own families properly.
In ‘06, UMass gave a public service award to a math professor “for initiating an enrichment program for African-American students in the town of Amherst in grades three to 10 that enables those students to build their math skills through regular, on-campus tutoring, creating a strong link between the local community and the campus”
No cries of racism at the time, even though only blacks were considered.
Maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average at Hampton, which Cosby set as a target for the young men he is assisting, requires "pretty much just cutting everything else out," White said.
That's the key for anyone who ever excelled at college. You may party your freshman year, but after that you drop out or you work reaaaaal hard.
You can get through an Ivy League school without doing a lick of work, getting in is the hard part.
I knew plenty of classmates who never went to class and never studied, and still graduated on time.
Of course, that WAS thirty years ago . . . .
I think “depends on the college” is a fair statement. A speech prof (com something or other) I had went to a pass/fail university. Just imagine that; taking your classes on a pass/fail basis. what a joke.
Of course, from what I can remember from way back then, she was a standard-issue liberal.
At least she gave the A’s out like they were candy.
But she's getting an excellent education.
I actually got an excellent education too, because I was willing to work hard and loved my major. But I think I would rather have attended Davidson than Princeton. At least as those schools are today.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.