Members from The Summer on the Quad Summer Enrichment Program.
AMY FORSTER/ COURTESY
Nicholas Melendez, Staff Writer
The James Patterson Honors Program (JPHP) has spent the summer expanding its footprint at Manhattan University (MU), funding a renovated student lounge and launching a new summer program aimed at helping local high schoolers prepare for higher education.
The lounge area inside the Zaro’s Family Bakery has a new look this semester. New tables, seats, a stage and string lights now fill the space – the result of a renovation funded through the JPHP. The upgrade is part of a larger push by JPHP teams to reshape corners of MU with student comfort in mind, giving students more space to gather, study and connect with one another outside the classroom.
Aine Kolpa, a junior biology major, is credited as one of the project’s inspirations, citing her participation and eventual win in James Patterson’s “Disrupt Everything” contest.
Kolpa recalled the moment she found out she had won.
“I was ecstatic … I was flabbergasted,” Kolpa said.
For Kolpa, the win was tied to a need she had noticed as a freshman: the lack of a true third space on campus.
“We have such a wide variety of people on campus,” Kolpa said. “Commuters need more third space so they can sit around while they’re stuck on campus between classes. Residents need to get out of their room.”
That momentum behind the renovation reflects a larger shift within the JPHP office, said Eliza Newman, assistant director of the program, who discussed her own connection to that energy despite having only joined the university staff six months ago.
“Being here with new students, the buzz is just fun,” Newman said. “Everyone is excited to start school.”
Newman pointed to a wave of changes coming out of the JPHP office as evidence of that momentum.
“There have been many changes made for the better over in the JPHP office, new branding and marketing, punch cards, challenges for JPHP members … new and exciting ways for students to get plugged in and stay plugged in,” Newman said.
Much of that energy, Newman explained, traces back to this past summer, when the JPHP ran a program aimed at local high school students. She credited Amy Forster, a senior English and special education major, with spearheading the effort.
In an interview with The Quadrangle, Forster explained that the idea began with a conversation with Michele Saracino, Ph.D., executive director of the James Patterson Honors Program at MU.
“[We discussed] a project that could strengthen our bond with local schools as an education department, as well as help local students feel comfortable on college campuses and get ready,” Forster said.
From that conversation, Forster took the next step of securing funding, reaching out directly to James Patterson to support the program. She discussed the payoff was evident by the end of the summer, both for the high schoolers involved and for the broader community MU serves.
“The results were incredible, how much they learned and how much more comfortable they were,” Forster said.
The program was designed with first-generation university students in mind, providing direct guidance on navigating the admissions process while drawing on the experiences of MU students and staff. The JPHP partnered with several schools in the surrounding area, including Atmosphere Academy, Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, Sacred Heart and In-Tech Academy.
Forster described the kinds of questions the program was designed to help students work through, many of which can feel daunting to a student without a family member who has gone through the process before.
“How do you look for scholarships? Where do scholarships come from? What does early decision versus early action mean? What do I look for in dorms?” Forster said.
Structurally, the summer program brought together two groups totaling 21 students. Each group moved through morning and afternoon sessions that combined research work, a creative storytelling session designed to build public speaking skills and college essay workshops.
The curriculum was built around the essentials of preparing for a higher education, with organizers looking to carry that momentum into the rest of this year’s fall semester.