Belmont University hosts summer program for local high schoolers in bid to diversify student body

Dozens of local high schoolers moved on to Belmont University’s campus this month to embark on a two-week long college immersion experience. These juniors and seniors live in the dorms, eat in the dining halls, and take dual enrollment courses.

The pre-college program, called “University You,” is part of “Bridges to Belmont” — an initiative that provides academic support and extracurricular activities for future and incoming students. Students attend the program free of cost and can earn at least six hours of college credit.

The private Christian university partners with Metro Nashville Public Schools to recruit students from the 12 high schools that comprise the Academies of Nashville —a model that provides college and career prep services.

Students are nominated by their schools, and they must have a grade-point-average falling between 2.5 and 3.0. Program director Jozef Lukey told WPLN News that many of the students would be first-generation college students.

“We’re really targeting students that have high potential but may not have access to the opportunities,” he said.

In addition to academic support, Lukey highlighted the interpersonal skills that students gain.

“Bringing them all together to have this experience is teaching them how to create networks and relationships with people that don’t necessarily come from the same school system.”

One of these students is Deshawn Cotton, a rising junior at Pearl Cohn High School. At just 15, he’s among the youngest in his cohort. He said living like a college student has made him more responsible.

“Get yourself up in the morning. Don’t be late,” he said. “It’s all just a matter of growing up.”

The program asks for a two-year commitment. Students Chris Vestal and Dalton Thompson, both rising seniors at Maplewood High School, admit they were nervous to move onto campus last summer but feel much more comfortable this time around. Vestal appreciates that they can build on the skills — like coding and finding credible sources — that they learned last year.

The seventeen-year-olds are relatively new to Nashville — having only moved to the area within the last two years. They credit the program’s extracurricular activities for exposing them to different parts of the city. Thompson hopes to attend Belmont in the future and study computer science.

While some students from the program end up attending Belmont, Lukey stressed that the goal is to just prepare the students to succeed at any college they choose.