Conn joins American Talent Initiative

Connecticut College has been invited to join the American Talent Initiative, a coalition of educational leaders with a mission to expand access and opportunity to high-achieving, low-income students from across the U.S. ATI has a vision of enrolling and graduating 50,000 such students from top colleges and universities by the year 2025.

Conn President Katherine Bergeron will be attending ATI’s Presidential Summit in New York City on Feb. 5, 2019. There, she will have an opportunity to come together with member presidents, chancellors and provosts to advance the mission of ATI and directly address some of the most pressing issues that stand in the way of ATI’s collective progress.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will deliver the summit’s opening remarks, and other featured guests speakers include David Brooks of The New York Times, and John King, former U.S. secretary of education and current head of The Education Trust.

“One of our strategic goals in Building on Strength is full participation: empowering an increasingly diverse community of students, faculty and staff to thrive in their work and contribute to the flourishing of others,” said Bergeron.

“To that end we are proud to be joining ATI, forming a partnership with more than 100 committed institutions of higher education to develop future leaders,” Bergeron said.

By bringing together a diverse set of pubic and private institutions, ATI members can enhance individual efforts to reach out to and enroll lower-income students; learn from each other about how best to support lower-income students; and share what they learn to expand higher education access across hundreds of colleges and universities.

“Today, a college degree is more critical than ever, and it’s up to educational institutions like Conn to ensure that talented students from every part of society have access to an excellent education,” said John McKnight, dean of institutional equity and inclusion.

“Unfortunately, at present, too few students from low- and moderate-income backgrounds have access to the full breadth of higher education opportunities available. By joining ATI, Conn will help increase opportunities for deserving students.”

As of January 2019, 110 leading state flagship, Ivy League, private universities and liberal arts colleges have joined the initiative. The membership is diverse, representing 31 different states, six different Carnegie Classes, and a wide range of institution sizes.