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Date of Award

Spring 2021

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Stephanie Wong

Second Advisor

Daniel Douglas

Abstract

This research is situated within the context of barriers to college enrollment and completion for Latine students in the United States and efforts to mitigate those barriers using wrap-around scholarships. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with eight Latine Posse Scholars and one Posse faculty mentor, it answers the question “to what extent do the pre-college and during-college experiences of Latine Posse Scholars at Trinity College conform with or diverge from the stated aims of the Posse program?” This study reveals that Posse’s goals ultimately are partially fulfilled at this elite liberal arts college. While Posse brings students to campus who otherwise may not have attended Trinity College, it fails to make the campus environment more welcoming for students of all backgrounds and it does not provide adequate career programming to its Scholars in preparation for leadership in the workforce, as promised on the Foundation’s website. Though Posse’s implementation at Trinity College falls short of its potential and enacts harm on its Latine Scholars who are placed at a historically wealthy and White institution, the Foundation’s potential to enact meaningful change in Latine college enrollment and completion is powerful. This paper recommends four policy implications for the Posse Foundation as it seeks to better serve its Latine scholars and provides broader implications regarding the ethicality of sending Latine and BIPOC students to Predominantly White Institutions with rich histories of institutional racism.

Comments

Senior thesis completed at Trinity College, Hartford CT for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Educational Studies. Full text access is limited to the campus community.

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