At the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), alumna Tyshea S. Lewis has the rare distinction of directing an academic program in which she was the first graduate – an ironic future she didn’t foresee when she arrived at the scenic 210–acre campus in 2010.
Lewis leads the UNCG Guarantee Scholarship and Program, a selective initiative for low-income, high-achieving North Carolina residents that provides total or near-total financial aid for four years and co-curricular experiences designed to enhance scholars academically, professionally and personally. This school year’s new cohort of 33 brings to 299 the number of UNCG Guarantee scholars since the program was created with endowment funds from a multimillion-dollar gift made by an anonymous donor in 2009.
For Guarantee scholars, the free dollars help increase access and decrease anxiety while enrichment activities, career planning and a multifaceted mentoring component promote success in school and after.
“I’m in awe of my students all the time and the things they are able to accomplish,” said Lewis, who is beginning her third year as director.
She can relate genuinely to the approximately 100 Guarantee scholars currently on campus, because she walked a similar path.
Finances were tight in Lewis’ single-parent household when she was finishing Brunswick County Early College High School and hoping to attend UNCG. During a campus visit for prospective students, she learned of UNCG Guarantee and that the deadline to apply had been extended.
“My mother was like, ‘You need to apply tonight.’” recalled Lewis. “I jumped on it and applied and actually found out [acceptance] snooping through student accounts. I saw it on my account before I actually heard from the office, so we celebrated early and when we got the official news we celebrated again.”
