Georgetown is strengthening its ties, both nationally and locally, with Cristo Rey schools in an effort to help more underserved students reach and succeed at college.

The national Cristo Rey Network is a group of 22 Catholic, college preparatory high schools that prepare economically disadvantaged students for post-secondary school options to enroll in college.

For the past six years, Georgetown has cultivated a close relationship with the national Cristo Rey Network, which was founded by the Rev. John Foley, S.J., who attended the university in the 1950s before joining the Society of Jesus. Georgetown is recognized as a founding university partner of the Cristo Rey Network.

"We're working with the network because we're impressed with the success that it has had in helping students from underserved communities become ready for college," says Daniel Porterfield, senior vice president for strategic development. Porterfield sits on the national Cristo Rey Network board and works with network leaders to strengthen and enrich Cristo Rey's academic standards.

"As a Catholic, Jesuit university we're always supportive of the work of the Church to promote social justice," Porterfield says. "Cristo Rey is a fabulous educational model with early success and great promise to address the American imperative of promoting increased college completion rates for students from lower-income families."

The network's statistics back up that assertion – 99 percent of Cristo Rey students nationwide are accepted to college. Fourteen of those students now are enrolled at Georgetown.

"Educating students from underserved communities to become leaders and go to college is something we're honored to do at Georgetown," Porterfield says.

Georgetown is vested in Cristo Rey's success, Porterfield adds, because the university places a high value on serving the community, especially in areas where social and economic factors make it harder to obtain a quality education.

"Recent data suggests," Porterfield notes, "that, in America's 50 largest urban school districts, only 7 percent of current ninth grade students will earn a college degree."

As a founding university partner, Georgetown seeks to assist Cristo Rey students beyond just those that come to the Hilltop. The university works with the network on issues of higher education affordability, academic and social support and pre-college summer enrichment programs.

Georgetown's efforts include helping the network expand its corporate work-study program for students, looking at a nationwide branding initiative for the network and developing counselor training programs to help students find the right college for them.

"The goal is not just to get students into college, but to get them through college," says Christopher Broughton, director of post-secondary initiatives for the Cristo Rey Network. "We want our students to earn a degree that will be of economic value to them. For some, that means a four-year school like Georgetown; for others it would be a two-year school."

As work with the network continues on a national level, Georgetown also is actively involved with the local Cristo Rey school, Don Bosco High School in Takoma Park, Md. From a tutoring program at the high school to employing Don Bosco students at Georgetown, the university partnership with Don Bosco also continues to grow.

Working with Cristo Rey is a way to live out Georgetown's Jesuit ideals, says Sandy Wilhelm, program coordinator for the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. Wilhelm coordinates Don Bosco students who work at Georgetown as part of the high school's mandatory work-study experience.

"You start to realize the many social realities these kids can fall prey to, and how easy it would be for them to fall through the cracks," she says. "We cannot let our brightest minds be lost from society."

Feeling the Need to Give Back

Karina Ramirez (C'10) remembers what it was like to leave her Chicago surroundings and travel halfway across the country to attend college in the nation's capital. The graduate of Chicago's Cristo Rey Jesuit High School recalls feeling nervous about leaving her close-knit school family for the unknowns of college life. But, more importantly, Ramirez remembers the team of people who supported her decision to attend college and encouraged her along the way.

Ramirez now returns the favor through a tutoring program she founded with fellow Cristo Rey Jesuit High School alumna Reina Garcia (C'11).

"Something in my life went right, and I want to make that happen for other students," Ramirez says. "People were there to encourage me and inspire me and tell me I could do it. That's what we want for the students at Don Bosco."

Ramirez and Garcia's tutoring initiative sends a group of 15 to 20 Georgetown undergraduates to assist Don Bosco students three times a week. The tutors help with homework, but also talk to the high schoolers about life after Don Bosco. Advice is especially appreciated from the four tutors who are Cristo Rey alumni – three from the Chicago school and one from Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles.

"We know what they're going through, the fears they have and what the process is like," Ramirez said. "So after their homework is finished, we'll take a few minutes to talk about their future plans."

Cristo Rey at Work on the Hilltop

Georgetown also supports Don Bosco's work-study program. All Cristo Rey students must balance a demanding course load with a work-study job for five full days per month during the academic year. The program seeks to instill responsibility in students and provide them with a robust résumé, skill set and ability to handle themselves in professional situations.

The students fulfill the same duties an entry-level employee would – filing, preparing information packets, data entry, errands and more. This past academic year, 19 Don Bosco students worked at Georgetown, making the university the high school's top employer. Each student is hired for $7,500, which is applied to his or her high school tuition.

Jessica Palencia, 15, has seen her responsibilities increase as she's proven herself on the job. Palencia, a rising junior and student in Don Bosco's founding class, works in Georgetown's president's office after working in 2007-2008 in the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service.

Moises Gonzalez, a 14-year-old rising sophomore, also is learning his way around an office through his job in Faculty Services in the McDonough School of Business. Both students, who are working at Georgetown over the summer, say their experiences are giving them a leg up on building a solid résumé.

"I'm getting experience most kids my age don't have," says Palencia. "School alone cannot give me the experience of learning about an office and how it works."

As the liaison between Georgetown supervisors and Don Bosco students, Wilhelm says university offices are "thrilled" with their student workers. "They bring energy to offices, and they're so eager to learn," she says.

Mary Anne Mahin, Georgetown's vice president and chief human resources officer, says she is gratified to see the university's involvement with Cristo Rey grow, especially though the work-study program. Having a regular job instills accountability in the students and teaches them about professional conduct, Mahin says, and she hopes to employ more students this coming year.

"My goal, in addition to the offices that employ one student, is to have a department fill one full-time entry-level job with four Don Bosco students," she says.

Mahin has been involved with Don Bosco since its inception two years ago and recently was appointed to a three-year term on the school's board of directors, on which Porterfield also sits.

"I grew up with a Catholic education," Mahin says, "and I'm a big believer in it and in what Cristo Rey does for students."

-- Lauren Burgoon

(July 5, 2009)