IDEAL program celebrates milestone with first commencement
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
When Lipscomb students A.T. Banks, Matthew Loveland and Rashaad Harrell walked across the stage of Stowe Hall on Dec. 17 to claim their hard-earned academic credentials, they not only made university history but they also achieved a milestone that few thought they would ever have the opportunity to reach.
The three students were the first Lipscomb students to receive certificates in career exploration studies as the first cohort in the College of Education’s IDEAL (Igniting the Dream of Education and Access at Lipscomb) program designed for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The certificates in career exploration studies reflect the mastery of career, academic, independent and living skills.
It was a day that these students and their families did not think they would have an opportunity to experience before becoming the first students to enroll in the IDEAL program when it launched in January 2014.
When his brother went off to college a few years ago, Harrell wanted to know why he couldn’t go, too.
“When Rashaad couldn’t follow in his brother’s footsteps, he was sad. He asked me over and over again why he couldn’t go,” Mia Harrell, Rashaad’s mother, said when he entered the program. “It broke my heart to see how much he wanted to go to college. He begged us to be able to go to school. There should not be any child who wants to go to college who can’t.”
Rashaad’s mother learned about the IDEAL program at a resource fair at Harris-Hillman School. It was a day that changed his life.
“We prayed for an opportunity for Rashaad to continue to grow and learn. God just dropped this program in our lap. This program fits Rashaad perfectly,” said Harrell. “He was determined to go to college. And, he is there. Rashaad never gives up. His attitude has gotten him very far in life.”
And on Dec. 17, Harrell proudly walked across the stage to receive his certificate. Provost W. Craig Bledsoe and President L. Randolph Lowry presented Banks, Harrell and Loveland their certificates. After each crossed the stage, each student took a “victory lap” around the auditorium, certificate in hand, before returning to his seat.
IDEAL is a two-year certificate program, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, designed to encourage and support students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to experience college as their peers do. The IDEAL program incorporates academic and skill-building classes, exercise sessions, daily internships, leisure time and a daily study period. The initial cohort included three students. During the fall 2015 semester, 19 students comprising three cohorts, including the three graduates, were enrolled in the program.
At the commencement ceremony Mallory Whitmore, IDEAL program director, challenged the students to remember three things.
“This is an opportunity for a new beginning to create many ‘best days’ with this certificate,” said Whitmore. “The piece of paper you have received today is the start of the opportunity to have the best days that will follow. A lot of times when we have ceremonies like this we think about marking the end of something. But instead I really want us to think of today as an opportunity for a new beginning. That’s what commencement means, a new beginning.”
Whitmore challenged the three students to remember three things as they leave Lipscomb.
“I want you to remember three things as you leave here,” she said. “Be yourself — be true to who God made you to be; be honest; and be brave. You are at a point when you are going to have more independence. I want you to be brave enough to ask for it and brave enough to accept it, because you are totally ready.”
Whitmore, who was instrumental in developing Lipscomb’s IDEAL program, said she is proud of how the program has grown.
“It was incredible watching A.T., Matthew and Rashaad receiving their certificates today,” she said. “I feel so proud, not only of these students, but of all those who have worked to build this program and of Lipscomb for believing in this program. It’s surreal watching the work that has defined my life for the last two-and-a-half years come to fruition in a single moment like it has today.”
Each IDEAL student is paired with peer mentors. Chandler Cooper, a senior business major and member of the women’s basketball team, was a peer mentor for the first cohort.
“It didn’t take long for people on campus to get to know our IDEAL students,” Cooper said in her message to the graduates. “They have more friends than anyone I know. They have paved the way for the following IDEAL cohorts. It’s been a pleasure building the relationships I have with these students. It’s been a privilege watching them grow in different social settings and make friends.
“I want to say on behalf of all of the student mentors that the IDEAL program, and these three boys especially, play a huge role in our college experience,” she continued. “They are a joy to have on campus, and they make campus fun. They have truly made deep connections here that will last a lifetime.”
During their two years in the IDEAL program, each of the students selected eight academic classes, including lifetime fitness, introduction to technical theater, principles of nutrition, introduction to psychology, history of graphic design, 21st century media, nature study, methods of teaching sports skills, entrepreneur’s introduction to business and German historical culture among other courses.
Andy Bleiler, technical director and adjunct theatre professor who taught each of the three students, gave the faculty message.
“I want you guys to know how much you inspire everyone else,” he told the students. “When you come to our classes, you remind us that we’re all in it together. I hope that when you go out and do what you do next that you’ll still come back and say hi to us from time-to-time.”
A key component of the IDEAL program is to equip students with job skills through internship and externship opportunities. Harrell completed internships at Fleet Feet Sports in Nashville and in Lipscomb’s athletics marketing and testing services offices. Banks completed four internships, including ones on campus in athletics marketing and with the women’s basketball team and off-campus at Thrift Smart and Therapy in A Bin. Lipscomb’s chapel office and Mullican Studio provided on-campus internship opportunities for Loveland. He also completed internships at Nashville Food Project and at Data Supplies Inc. in Franklin, Tenn.
Each of the students developed an online portfolio as part of their studies. Click here to view Banks’, Harrell’s and Loveland’s portfolios.
In November, the IDEAL program received a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education through its Model Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) initiative. Lipscomb was one of only 25 universities in the nation to receive a TPSID grant. Other institutions awarded a grant this year include the University of Alabama, Syracuse University, Ohio State University, Appalachian State University and Vanderbilt University among others.
Tuition is $15,000 per year. In addition, students pay for meal plans and any applicable student fees. Students who are interested in the program should apply and may be selected to interview. Students will be eligible if they are diagnosed with an intellectual disability, do not meet the standard undergraduate admission criteria, and are between the ages of 18 to 26, among other criteria.
For more information, click here.