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A Message from the President

The power of education is awesome and transformational. In places large and small around the world, and here in the United States, there are young people struggling to live their lives armed with less education than they need to realize their full potential.

Ewing Marion Kauffman, founder of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, acted on his belief that education was the key to success in life, a one way ticket out of poverty. He understood that low-income urban students often do not have access to rigorous, in-depth academic preparation or ample economic opportunity to make the pursuit of college education a reality. Mr. Kauffman believed his Foundation could make the difference in helping to bridge the gaps that block so many urban youth on their path to college; and, he stated that "If you give these students hope for the future, if they know somebody cares for them, you'll be surprised at what they can achieve."

The need for low-income urban youth to become college graduates grows exponentially, as our country and the world face growing economic, environmental and social challenges. We cannot afford to "write off" the approximately 50 percent of African American and Hispanic American ninth graders who will not graduate from high school within four years. And over the past two decades, a new achievement gap in education has emerged – a gender gap – that spreads across the demographic spectrum, crossing lines of race and socio-economic status. The percentage of male college undergraduates dropped 24 percent from 1970 to 2000, and the number of male undergraduates on college campuses is currently at 44 percent. Many predict that by 2010, only 40 percent of undergraduates will be males.

Kauffman Scholars, Inc. was created in 2003, as an independent nonprofit organization, to make a dramatic impact in the number of urban students from low-income families in the Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas school districts who go on to become college graduates. KSI is an organic college preparation, access, and graduation program, growing and evolving as we evaluate new data, review new outcomes, and create proactive solutions to the challenges facing our Scholars. Our comprehensive educational and life skills intervention begins in seventh grade when Scholars enter the program. We have created new supplemental programs and special recruitment efforts to address the gender gap in education that has been reflected in our enrollment. KSI also initiated supplemental programming to address the contemporary issues facing young urban females.

Since the program began, we have accepted five Classes of Scholars, and have over 1,300 students in the program. In 2008, the largest number of males in a single class took the pledge as Scholars. Class 1 will graduate from high school in Spring, 2009 and cross that bridge that has beckoned for so long to college entrance. Over the life of our program, about 19 years, KSI expects to serve over 2,300 students. Qualified students will receive college scholarship assistance – and they will incur no college-related debt.

The KSI program gives us a replicable model to demonstrate what can be achieved when we put our collective minds, resources, and commitment to work to empower urban youth through education.

Regards,

R. Stephen Green, Ed.D.
President