Veronica Wilkerson Johnson

Case for Support/IDSL 860

April 13, 2014
Your support for the Hope Community College Minority STEM Fund
helps us train future scientists and engineers!
You've heard the old saying, "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste" that
is often intoned by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). And, in his
landmark work, The Biology of Empowerment (2004), Dr. Lee Pulos
stated that genius is lying dormant in all of us.
At the Hope Community College of Central Arkansas we have
embraced the idea of helping more minority students and women
obtain college degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,
the STEM professions. Research, along with experience at our
community college, has shown that among our underrepresented
students are many brilliant scientists, physicians and engineers waiting
to be discovered - young people who have the ability, but do not have
the educational backgrounds and financial provisions needed for them
to succeed. With your help, this can change.
You know of many humanitarian causes that seek your funding
support. What sets HCC of Central Arkansas apart from many of these
organizations is that we dedicate not some - but ALL of your funding
dollars to the educational pursuits of our students. Whether it is for
dedicated tutoring and mentoring programs to aid minority students in
the sciences and math, or for skilled engineering training and
journeyman institutes, your dollars go to work immediately, helping
disadvantaged students across our campus.

In fiscal year 2013, we served more than 1,000 students through our
advanced developmental course acceleration programs, tutoring and
special counseling services, and some 800 of our students completed
Associates Degrees in the sciences and mathematics, many
immediately enrolling in 4-year STEM programs at colleges and
universities across the nation. We know that there are many more
talented students out there that your support will aid greatly.
We would like to tell you about one of the alumni of our Minority
Student STEM Program who went on to impact the U.S. Space Program!
Dr. Julian Hightower, who was an esteemed astrophysicist at NASA,
began as a student from an indigent, African American migrant family
in Smallholler, Arkansas. This small village of 480 residents had a 95%
poverty rate, and few of the residents ever completed high school. Dr.
Hightower's parents were sharecroppers on a cotton farm, and he and
his five siblings had to walk two miles to the Normal School Complex,
consisting of several one-room schoolhouses, throughout their
formative years. All but one of Julian's siblings dropped out by the
10th grade to assume full-time field hand positions in neighboring
towns, or to work full-time on the family farm.
Fortunately, the teachers at Normal School saw something special in
Julian and his brother Caleb. Musically talented Caleb, from an early
age, entranced audiences at Normal School's annual musicals and
plays with his melodic singing voice. Thanks to a visiting music
instructor, he took piano lessons and quickly developed skills as a
pianist as well. In his senior year Caleb received a scholarship to the
Julliard School in New York City. Graduating with honors and
endorsements, Caleb Hightower was selected as a visiting soloist to
many orchestras, and his resonant tenor voice can be heard in venues
around the world.

Julian Hightower also liked to sing and strum a tune or two, but his
incessant passion, from his earliest years, was gazing into the
pageantry of space. For Christmas, during his 4th grade year, Julian
received a telescope from his Aunt Callie in Boston and the rest, as
they say, is history. Julian was naturally brilliant in mathematics and
physics, and he received a full scholarship to our Hope Community
College, Central Arkansas Campus in 1990. Being a part of our Hope
Scholars Program, Julian quickly excelled and graduated Summa Cum
Laude. He received a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in 1993 where he proceeded to complete a Master of
Science and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics. During his career at NASA he rose
to the position of Assistant Executive Director. Many described Dr.
Hightower as a brilliant, yet humble, scientist who said he just had a
passion to "give back", and that he was thankful to those who had
given him the opportunity to achieve his life's passion. Dr. Hightower
was responsible for overseeing the launching of several space
missions, and we are extremely proud of our alumnus, Dr. Julian
Hightower, for his contribution to society and to our nation - and we
are especially delighted that Hope Community College had the chance
to contribute to the education and stellar career of this great man!
With your help more recruitment efforts, scholarships, and tutoring can
be provided for our future students like Julian who will go on to make a
difference in the world. Among our underrepresented youth could be
the next scientist, astronaut, physicist, nurse or engineer. We will
never know if we do not empower and prepare them now.
Give today. Your gifts are tax deductible and will make a meaningful
difference to the lives of our students.

Visit: HCC-STEMdonations.com to provide your donation today, or call

our Development Center at (800) 232-HOPE.
Special note: With the exception of sources that are cited in-text, this is
a fictional account for the purposes of the course assignment only.