Posse Foundation Partnership

 

Lewis & Clark is pleased to announce a five year partnership with the Posse Foundation. Together, Lewis & Clark and the Posse Foundation will work to expand the recruiting pool of outstanding young leaders from diverse backgrounds, help build more interactive campus environments for people from all backgrounds, and ensure Posse Scholars take on leadership positions in the workforce upon graduation.

About Posse

The Posse Foundation’s model works for both students and college campuses and is rooted in the belief that a small, diverse group of talented students—a Posse—carefully selected and trained, can serve as a catalyst for individual and community development. Posse believes that the leaders of the 21st century should reflect the country’s rich demographic mix. The key to a promising future for our nation rests on the ability of strong leaders from diverse backgrounds to develop consensus solutions to complex social problems. Posse’s primary aim is to train these leaders of tomorrow.

Posse Scholars

Lewis & Clark has committed to bring five cohorts of 10 Posse Scholars, beginning in Fall 2021, from the foundation’s Washington, DC branch to study on Palatine Hill. These students will receive four-year, full-tuition scholarships provided by the college and its donors. In addition to scholarships, program costs include faculty mentors, annual PossePlus Retreat, travel and miscellaneous fees over the course of the five year commitment.

Program Sponsors

Trustee Patrick Nielson ’71 and his wife, Dorris Nielson, have generously pledged $250,000 to provide funding for the operational costs of this partnership. This tremendous gift allows Lewis & Clark to quickly address steps to increase the diversity on campus identified by President Wiewel earlier this year. These steps include:

• The expansion of recruitment of Black and other students of color
• Seeking additional scholarship funds to help enhance the diversity of campus
• Allocation of institutional and philanthropic funds to initiatives increasing diversity

Join the Lewis & Clark Posse

There are two ways you can support this effort. You can join the Lewis & Clark Posse by making a gift to the Posse Scholarship Fund or by becoming a Posse Partner. Posse Partners contribute a $25,000 annual gift to create a named Posse Scholarship to meet the full tuition need of one of our Posse Scholars. Lewis & Clark is matching all gifts made by Posse Partners AND all gifts to the Posse Scholarship Fund.

For questions, please contact Rebecca Holt at rebeccah@lclark.edu or 503-768-7943.