NEW YORK— Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award winning actress Viola Davis and her sisters said that participating in TRIO programs transformed their lives.
“Upward Bound and the preparatory program made me a citizen of the world,” said Viola Davis, whose hit TV series How to Get Away with Murder begins season five next week. “It gave me perspective and it made me feel like my situation and my environment didn’t define me.”
On Saturday evening, Viola Davis, sisters Dianne Davis Wright, Deloris Davis Grant and Anita Davis and their mother, Mae Alice Davis, were honored by the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) with its first ever TRIO Family Achievement Award. The award was presented at a gala dinner during COE’s annual conference held in New York.
“I always say to people who I mentor, ‘The only thing I can do is show you the road,’” Viola Davis said. “The road can be challenging, but you keep going. The road got me out. Once I got out, I saw this wide open field of possibility of who I could become and I didn’t see anything that could stop me.”
Growing up in Central Falls, Rhode Island, the Davis sisters all loved school. While they were raised hearing about the value of higher education, they didn’t know how they would possibly access it. When a guidance counselor at Central Falls High School told eldest sister Dianne about the federally funded Upward Bound college access and preparation program, a positive chain of events was set in motion.
Founded in the mid-1960’s, the federally funded TRIO programs include Upward Bound and Student Support Services, both of which the Davis sisters utilized. Designed to prepare low-income and first-generation students for college, TRIO provides tutoring, counseling, mentoring, financial guidance and other support services.
COE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering higher education opportunities for low-income, first-generation students, veterans and students with disabilities. It works in conjunction with institutions that host TRIO programs.
