In the quest to recruit and retain minority students, Dr. Beverly Richardson has surpassed most expectations.
In the years following her arrival as provost of Mercer County Community College’s James Kerney campus located in downtown Trenton, N.J., officials have noted a marked increase in student enrollment and increased participation in specialized programs, including culinary arts, which is currently under expansion.
And the fact that many of these students hail from the Trenton public school system–one of the most troubled school districts in the state–is even more impressive. For almost two decades, she has been the driving force behind the success of the Kerney campus, an urban location in the heart of a commercial district not too far from blight and despair.
Since she took the helm of the Kerney campus, Richardson has been on a personal crusade, to ensure that minority youth in Trenton as young as 12 have the same opportunity to pursue a college education as their White suburban counterparts.
Richardson has implemented new academic programs and reinvigorated existing ones that groom about 1,000 Trenton youngsters for academic success through science, math and technology courses. In order for these students to be successful in the long run, Richardson knows that she has to reach them early, long before they even enroll in high school.
“It’s an opportunity to serve people who wouldn’t otherwise be served,” Richardson said as she recounted the reasons for why she came to Kerney. “It’s about taking people from where they are and taking them to where they want to go or where they never thought they could be.”
Total enrollment at Kerney has jumped from 1,000 students to 3,500 under Richardson’s leadership. She has mentored dozens of students who matriculate into four-year colleges and universities. During her tenure, several students, like Joann Mia, have even gone on to graduate school. Mia pursued a master’s degree in community education after earning her GED and associate’s degree at Kerney. She returned to her old stomping grounds and is now a coordinator for the campus’s Learning Center.
