The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) held its semestral town hall meeting Monday to discuss upcoming initiatives, as well as recognize the efforts of high-achieving students from the fall semester.
Randall Edouard, the director of EOP, praised the staff and students of the program. He gave awards to staff members whom he described as “going above and beyond the call of duty for this program.”
According to Edouard, the main goal of this and following meetings is to foster the program’s theme, which is love, unity and immunity.
“EOP is a family and we need to know each other and help one another to be successful and know about things at the University,” he said.
The Educational Opportunities Program began at Binghamton in 1968 and its purpose, according to its Web site, is “to fulfill New York state’s commitment to provide opportunity and access to higher education for economically disadvantaged students who possess great potential to succeed in college.”
Edouard presented some notable statistics for students in EOP from the fall semester.
“Fifty five percent of the population is in good academic standing and 30 percent of students have a 3.0 and above,” he said. “Twenty percent of that 30 percent have a 3.5 or higher.”
Raymond Valentin, a junior majoring in English and a member of the EOP Advisory Committee, said he looked forward to this spring semester meeting as a step in changing the way outsiders view EOP.
“There are leaders within this program,” he said.
Aside from a celebration of the achievements of EOP staff and students, the agenda of the evening consisted of speakers from the financial aid office, the tutorial center, the JC Mentors program and a message from Rodger Summers, the special assistant to the provost.
The meeting concluded with the distribution of book stipends worth $210 for the EOP students.
Edouard said his “biggest initiative upon arriving on campus was getting books for students.” Over time he hopes to increase the worth of the stipends so that EOP students can buy their books with greater ease.
Money for books was also the goal of the Alumni Book Awards, which were given to a select group of high-achieving students.
“A generous alumni donor made the stipulation that he wanted the money used for books,” Edouard explained.
Edouard has been the director of EOP since March 2009, and he began the biannual meetings last spring semester. Out of approximately 630 students, 500 attended the first meeting.
“Originally, I was told not to have this meeting because no one would come,” Edouard said. “So it was wonderful to see everyone there.”
According to Valentin, Edouard has a good relationship with the students.
“I look forward to Randall [Edouard] laying out the new future of EOP,” Valentin said. “I expect he will instill rigorous academic virtues in new students.”