Even though any student can apply that meets this requirement, there is a strong preference for students that come from low-income households and those that will be the first in their families to attend college. Through the program, students are set up with opportunities to learn and grow, free of cost.
During the summer program, students are exposed to political philosophy. The writing Bing did helped to get her out of her comfort zone. “One thing I learned was that I’m not always right. In the program, the readings and new perspectives showed me life isn’t so black and white,” she said. Since its inception, the program has quickly grown over the last few years. The program initially had only 15 students that were taught by Roosevelt Montás, director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum, according to Freedom and Citizenship’s website. Now, the program has more than doubled the number of students.
“Most of all, the students we talk to are interested in asking big questions and challenging themselves. They get more excited by that than when I say ’you’ll get a letter of recommendation for college’ or ’it’ll look good on your resume,’” Lee said.