Image by Dave Zylstra
In an announcement put out by Achieving the Dream (ATD) on June 4, Milwaukee Area Technical College was named one of five colleges across the country to join the ATD National Network.
Achieving the Dream is a growing network of 277 community colleges committed to helping low-income students and students of color achieve their academic, personal, and economic goals. As part of their effort to close equity gaps, ATD provides colleges with tools, practices, and research to better serve students and communities.
“Many of our initiatives are specifically designed to help lower-income and students of color achieve equity. Achieving the Dream had approached us in the past about applying to be a part of their national cohort, and this year, the time was right for us to apply,” says MATC President Vicki Martin.
Martin also says that their partnership with ATD will affect class schedules and delivery to be more student-centered. Additionally, this program will look beyond the classroom and consider MATC’s policies and practices to ensure that their infrastructure and processes are built for student success. Teams from MATC and the other four new member colleges will participate in a virtual meeting in July as they prepare to join the network, according to a press release from MATC.
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Travis Landry, a recent graduate from MATC, speaks about how he witnessed and experienced the diversity this campus had to offer. “As a student of color, I had the opportunity to become a student worker in the communications department and excel as the top student in my graphic design program. There are no limitations. You can be who you want to be at MATC,” says Landry.
Diverse Students and Faculty
Landry added that the faculty is also diverse, which he believes makes building a relationship between students and staff easier. He also says that due to the student body being overwhelmingly made up of minorities, MATC has a more welcoming educational environment, especially for students of color.
With the high racial tensions set across the country at the moment, implementing programs such as ATD into higher education institutions is needed. Closing equity gaps for students of color is not only important, but now it is crucial.
“As our community and our country are confronting long standing issues of racial bias and racial justice, this effort to eliminate the equity gap between white students and students of color is critically important. We believe that closing equity gaps in education can help address issues of income inequality, segregation and more that negatively affect the community we serve and beyond,” Martin says.
