An Innovative Preview of Life at HDS
by Jonathan Beasley
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Students at a Diversity
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Two years after she first thought of the idea of introducing a special program—one that would bring racial and ethnic minority undergraduate students to Harvard Divinity School to expose them to ministerial and theological graduate education—Maritza Hernandez saw her vision become reality.
On October 24-25 of this year, 41 students from across the United States attended the School's first annual Diversity and Explorations Program.
"It's a program that I had been wanting to do since I arrived at the Divinity School," said Hernandez, who is director of admissions and financial aid at HDS and, for 2007-08, also acting assistant dean for student services. "When I started to see the numbers of applications from racial and ethnic minorities, I started wondering why we are getting so few."
Hernandez says that of the nearly 600 total applicants to HDS for the 2007-08 academic year, roughly 14 percent were minority candidates.
After witnessing the success of a similar program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where she once worked, Hernandez began to discuss the Diversity and Explorations Program with HDS's Angela Counts, assistant director of admissions.
Counts, who conducted the bulk of the preliminary research for the program and handled much of the logistics and coordination, said that, even in the midst of managing normal recruiting obligations and admissions planning, "there were no big obstacles to overcome; it was more about just putting in the effort."
A distinctive feature of the Diversity and Explorations Program was how it differed from typical recruiting events, in which the target audience is generally graduating college seniors and a handful of juniors. Following a "pipeline" model, according to Counts, one of the key objectives of the program was to educate, not recruit, students of all undergraduate levels who may not fully understand the mission of a divinity school or what one does with a degree from a seminary.
Another unique aspect of the program was that transportation, room, and board were all paid for by HDS. According to Counts, the cost per individual was $938.
Current undergraduate students and recent college graduates were required to apply to take part in the program and were notified in early October whether they had been selected. Participants arrived Wednesday, October 24—many on overnight flights from the West Coast. They were then taken directly to HDS, where they ate a continental breakfast and met with staff and HDS student ambassadors—who helped the visitors navigate schedules and new surroundings—and then set off on the day's activities.
During the first day of the program, participants attended classes, took a tour of a field education site, and met with Dean William Graham as well as faculty, staff, alumni, and current HDS students. Later Wednesday evening, they were hosted at a dinner where they heard from a new HDS faculty member, Charles Adams, who is the first William and Lucille Nickerson Professor of the Practice of Ethics and Ministry.
Adams, speaking to the visiting students as well as members of the HDS community in the chapel of Andover Hall, emphasized the vital role HDS could one day play in their lives. "I ask you to come with whatever gifts and talents you have," Adams said. "And with the generous eyes of this community and your own determination to succeed, you will not only be enhanced as a person, but you will enhance the entire human community."
On Thursday, October 25, students spent the day attending panel discussions on topics ranging from funding and financial aid to differences between the MDiv and MTS curriculums. That evening, students attended evening dinners sponsored by the HDS Alumni/ae of African Descent, the HDS Latino/a Alumni/ae Association, and the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.
Aside from introducing students to the potential value of theological education, the program proved to be an opportunity for the admissions staff to identify colleges and universities where "we know we're not on their radar screen," Counts said. "We suspected that students of color don't necessarily visit the Divinity School, and we know from evaluations that those students who do tend to have a different impression once they visit."
Evaluation forms students filled out before returning home reveal that strong impressions were made: phrases like "amazingly informative" and "extremely helpful" were common. Many students indicated they intended to apply to HDS as a result of the two-day program.
According to Hernandez, the program was ultimately an important step in demonstrating how serious HDS is about increasing the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds.
"HDS is committed to having a diverse student body," said Hernandez. "And this program is a significant way of showing that commitment."
