Purdue News

November 5, 1999 Graduate programs showcased to minority students WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – About 50 students from historically African-American colleges and universities will visit Purdue Nov. 10-12 to learn about graduate school opportunities. Undergraduates from 13 schools will participate in the 11th annual Historically Black Institutions Visitation Program. The program is designed to encourage undergraduate students to consider advanced studies, particularly at Purdue. The program also helps Purdue establish ties with faculty and students at other campuses, said Dwight Lewis, coordinator of minority programs for Purdue's Graduate School. During the three-day visit, students meet with faculty, tour the campus and discuss fellowships and assistantships that may be available. The featured event will be a dinner and keynote address by Luther S. Williams, former assistant director with the National Science Foundation. The dinner will begin at 7:15 p.m. Nov. 11 in the North Ballroom of the Purdue Memorial Union. Williams, a Purdue alumnus, worked at the National Science Foundation for 10 years before leaving in August to become senior scholar at the Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer at Tulane University. The Historically Black Institutions Visitation Program is part of an ongoing effort by Purdue's Graduate School to increase the number of minority students who complete advanced degrees. In the fall of 1987, the year before the effort started, 74 African-American students were enrolled in the Graduate School. This fall, 207 African-American students are enrolled in graduate programs. Seventy-one current Purdue students participated in the Historically Black Institutions Visitation Program. Black Issues in Higher Education magazine reported in July that Purdue was among the top 20 schools in the country in graduating minority students with doctoral degrees. CONTACT: Lewis, (765) 494-0945; delewis@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page