I can remember when we were really trying to concentrate on
underrepresented populations and as I recall
you're years there, the increase was really substantial and
underrepresented students. Do you recall any of that was really important
to me? I don't know if you recall this, but so along with, you know,
working issue issue for so long and being an undergraduate
since I was working there and I love school, I went and got a master's
degree and PhD and my dissertation was really looking at access um to hire
at for underrepresented populations. So that's always been kind of a
passion of mine. And so yes, we really developed a lot of pre college
programs. We actually had a unit in our office that was really dedicated
to that, to really address that and try and identify and recruit the very
top underrepresented students and also provide access to any qualified
underrepresented students and provide the support that was needed. So that
was again, a very, very big priority for us in terms of the more different
and better in terms of the top academic students getting them. As I recall
that the merit scholar program really increased during that period of time.
Also, I'm sure, and that was that was not really me. I mean it was I was
certainly part of it, but it was a really university wide effort and I
think the beginning of the honors college had a dramatic impact on that
when we were able to get it named by um craig and Barbara Barrett that was
a big help for us and recruitment and really it was I think um both this
was during the course um presidency and milk click as provost. They both
were just extremely supportive of that as well and we were, we really were
second fiddle to to you of a um when I during most of my career and I
really just feel like it was towards the end that we started to make an
impact and I just, I still receive all my issue emails and whatever to and
I just read again and notice about how many Flinn scholars we've gotten
and I tell you I just was beaming because when we started we'd get a
handful of the 20 a handful and now we're getting almost all of them. So
I'm so happy was it Ted Humphrey that started the honors comments at that
time and I worked very closely with Ted. Yeah. Yeah because that was
really a large bonus for the university and brought in a lot of top
students. What a thing to have on your resume that you attended the honors
college there and and I think it has an I know it has a national
reputation so um Rutgers has honors colleges and we're just building this
new honors dorm and honors residents. Um it's which is beautiful and they
just published something that was talking about the um increase in S. A. T.
Scores at Rutgers for the honor students and they had a group of about
six other honors college is that they used for comparison, and Arizona
state was in that group of sex and that made me very proud.