By Elisabeth Costanzo Stewart
The 2023/2024 College Express Season officially kicked off with our biggest partnership to date! Armed with celebratory signs proclaiming “College Bound” and “I’m In,” members of SUNY Broome’s Enrollment Management and EOP teams traveled to Binghamton High School to invite over 300 BHS seniors to continue their education at SUNY Broome.
Binghamton High School principal Kevin Richman is a proud supporter of the partnership and loves that it aligns with the final step of BHS’ “Patriot Promise” that each BHS student makes: “I will graduate.”
“This College Express partnership is the perfect way to continue the conversation for our seniors about what’s next,” Richman said. “Today we are learning about a great option to answer that question.”
Dr. Penny Kelly, Vice President for Academic Affairs, congratulated the senior class and shared her personal SUNY Broome story. “I had plans to leave the area and study at a private, liberal arts, four-year college. And that’s what I did,” Dr. Kelly explained. “But between homesickness and not feeling like I fit, I came home to SUNY Broome and completed my first of many degrees. So while SUNY Broome wasn’t part of my first plan, it eventually became a critical part of my best plan.”
While students participating in College Express Partnerships are not obligated to attend SUNY Broome, they are encouraged to keep SUNY Broome as an open option.
BHS Senior, Ramon DeJesus, and SUNY Broome’s Director of EOP Venessa L. Rodriguez became fast friends at College Express Day! Photo Credit: Matt Ebbers
For BHS senior Ramon DeJesus, College Express Day was the perfect way to learn more about the college that his school counselor has been suggesting for months. When DeJesus transferred to Binghamton High School from a school in West Virginia, he admitted that he simply stopped caring about school. He was forced to repeat his freshman year and again, didn’t make much of an effort to complete his assignments. Things changed the following year, and soon, thanks largely in part to the PATS (Patriots Aspiring To Succeed) program, Ramon was doubling up on his classes to graduate on time.
School counselor Glenn Whittington has watched DeJesus in awe over the past two years and lovingly refers to him as “a true diamond in the rough.” Whittington, a proud SUNY Broome alum, firmly believes that SUNY Broome is the ideal next step for Ramon, who plans to eventually transfer to SUNY Buffalo to study criminal justice or political science. Whittington made sure to introduce Ramon to SUNY Broome’s Director of the Educational Opportunity Program, Venessa L. Rodriguez, and encouraged him to continue the momentum and support provided via PATS with many similar services offered through EOP.
As part of their customized College Express Partnership, BHS seniors and their families will spend the next few months being guided step by step through the enrollment process. Through a series of campus visits to the College and workshops at Binghamton High School, SUNY Broome will provide in-depth college readiness information on topics such as career exploration, academic advising, paying for college, learning assistance, and student engagement.
