Sisters Angela and Gina Weekley know their lives could have turned out differently.
They grew up in Waterloo, in a single-parent, low-income home where no one held even a high school level education. But they credited TRIO, a federal program administered by the University of Northern Iowa that provides services for elementary through high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds, with helping them overcome those obstacles and build successful careers and become local leaders and pillars of their community, with both being named to the Waterloo Courier’s 20 Under 40 list.
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst received a first-hand look last week at how a University of Northern Iowa program is helping low-income Cedar Valley students gain access to and succeed in higher education, while also learning how the program is growing to help more people.
The University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Urban Education has launched the UNI-CUE Academic Attainment Fund with the support of a $117,000 grant. The fund will support two scholarship programs — the first to be offered directly through the UNI-CUE.
For marginalized students from low-income backgrounds, unexpected expenses like a $500 car repair can make or break their chances of finishing college. Nobody knows this better than the staff of UNI’s Center for Urban Education (UNI-CUE), which serves around 15,000 people annually with several programs designed to promote continued education in marginalized communities.
Growing up in a home where her mother struggled with drug addiction, Yolanda Williams was determined to take a different path. She wanted to be like the teachers and counselors who helped her survive.
Now, in her new role as director of UNI’s Classic Upward Bound program, which helps support marginalized students to successfully complete high school and succeed in college, she’s able to use that life experience and empathy to help others.
Elected five years ago as the first African-American mayor in Waterloo’s 147-year history, UNI graduate Quentin Hart has focused ever since on building bridges.
Older now but unbowed, nine members of a group that came to be known as the UNI Seven walked across a Maucker ballroom stage Monday night to be honored for their work sparking change on campus some 50 years ago.
The peaceful protests they were part of led to the creation of what is now the Center for Multicultural Education (CME), UNI’s president said. He said the students also played a role in the formation of UNI’s Center for Urban Education (UNI-CUE), which serves minority and low-income students
