Mary
McLaughlin, director of Berea College’s Upward Bound program, was
honored by colleagues and students with a surprise recognition event
Sept. 18 for her 35 years of leadership and service.
The event took place on Upward Bound reunion day, when students currently
enrolled in Upward Bound come to campus. Former staff and students,
including students from McLaughlin’s first class 35 years ago,
were also invited. In addition to presenting McLaughlin with a plaque,
colleagues praised McLaughlin for her successful work.
“Mary is one of the reasons I came to Berea… she made
me realize just what a special community Berea was,” said Meta
Mendel-Reyes during the presentation of a plaque to McLaughlin.
A statement from Berea President Larry D. Shinn, who was out of town,
also commended McLaughlin. “Your programs are models for others
to emulate, and your commitment to your students is evident in their
love and respect for you,” Shinn said.
Students and alumni alike arrived to show that respect with their
comments, poems, and speeches. Former student Hasan Davis, who went
on to graduate from Berea College, earn a law degree and is now advisor
to the President of the United States on youth issues, stated, “everything
I now do is motivated by the passion of Mary McLaughlin.”
Students Alex Gibson and Stewart Stone joined those sentiments with
an emotionally rousing original poem that equated McLaughlin to a mother
bird encouraging its young to fly. McLaughlin was moved during the
heartfelt readings and commented, “you are the most beautiful
people in the world. I love you all.”
Upward Bound is a national educational program funded by the U.S.
Department of Education that helps young people in grades nine through
twelve to prepare for higher education. The program provides tutoring,
instruction, counseling, career orientation, and an opportunity to
experience educational development and personal growth within a college
setting. “Upward Bound changes lives and it changes mine every
summer,” McLaughlin emphasized as reasons for her sustained dedication.
McLaughlin has had a role in Berea College's Upward Bound program
in every year except the first (1966), and has had a great influence
on its development. It is now considered unique among programs due
to its challenging interdisciplinary curriculum and the student involvement
as tutor counselors and teachers. Through it, McLaughlin has had a
positive impact on hundreds of young people, said Special Programs
director at Berea Dreama Gentry, who organized the event.
“We wanted to this because she just gives and gives and gives.
She is like family to us,” Gentry said.
The Berea College Upward Bound program today serves 85 participants
each year in selected schools in eight south central Kentucky counties:
Clinton, Laurel, Madison, McCreary, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Wayne, and
Whitley.
Ninety-nine percent of the participants in the Berea program graduate
from high school and last year 88 percent of the participants enrolled
in college. Former participants have been placed in at least 30 different
colleges throughout Kentucky and the surrounding states.
Earlier this year, McLaughlin was recognized for her years of service
to Upward Bound by the Southern Association of Educational Opportunity
Programs and in 1998 received the Paul Luxmore Lifetime Achievement
Award for professional excellence from the Kentucky Association of
Educational Opportunity Programs.
In addition to a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Berea,
McLaughlin holds a master’s degree in counseling from Eastern
Kentucky University.
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