President Stoute announced today that the college received a $1 million gift to support the Urban Leadership Learning Community (ULLC) from an alumnus who wishes to remain anonymous.
The ULLC provides scholarship support to the best and brightest students from Greater Buffalo, with the aim to create the next generation of leaders in Buffalo and Western New York. Students in the program are from populations historically denied access and systemically excluded from positions of influence and power.
“We are extremely grateful for this generous support for one of Canisius’ most distinctive high-impact programs,” said President Stoute. “This gift to the ULLC shows a deep commitment to our Catholic, Jesuit, urban mission, which calls us to be persons for and with others and allows us to inspire a new generation of leaders. It will have a lasting impact on Canisius, Buffalo and Western New York for generations to come.”
The ULLC enrolled its first class in fall 2000 and experiences an impressive 80 percent, four-year graduation rate. Almost 200 ULLC students have graduated since 2004, and currently, there are 36 ULLC students pursuing undergraduate degrees in a wide-range of majors. ULLC students have gone on to graduate programs and careers in education, medicine, business and social work, among others.
The ULLC program is co-directed by Bennie D. Williams ’11, MSEd ’13, assistant dean of students and director of the Multicultural Student Center, and Michael Forest, PhD, professor and chair of the Philosophy Department.
Submitted by College Communications
