Diamonds In The Rough

By SUSAN TIFFT DAVIDSON, N.C.

Casually attired in khaki trousers and a gray polo shirt, math teacher Tony Dula scribbles an algebra problem on a sheet of clear plastic and, using an overhead projector, throws the image on the blackboard for his class of 10th- graders. "O.K.," he says, "you have two minutes." Heads bow and sneakered feet tap softly on the floor. Suddenly a student in the second row breaks the silence. "Oooooh! I found it!," she cries. "I feel good!" Another girl waves her hand wildly from the back of the room. "Mr. Dula! Mr. Dula! I did it!"

Solving algebra problems may not be every teenager's idea of how to spend a month of summer vacation, but for the 90 black youngsters enrolled in Love of Learning, a three-year-old minority-enrichment program at North Carolina's Davidson College, schoolwork is hot stuff. "They get motivated when they come here," says English teacher Regina Brandon. "This is an opportunity for them to get rid of some of the stumbling blocks that hold them back."

Those barriers can be daunting for minority students, many of whom have a hard time succeeding in the impersonal atmosphere of regular school. Love of Learning purposely recruits promising youngsters from the nearby Charlotte- Mecklenburg public school system who are in the middle -- not at the top -- of their class. Special consideration is given to those who have the potential to be the first in their families to go to college. "I call them diamonds in the rough," says Love of Learning director Brenda Tapia, who is also Davidson's assistant chaplain.

The aim of the program is to inspire black adolescents to pursue higher education. So far, the results are encouraging: every one of the 29 students in the inaugural class went on to college, four to top-ranked Davidson and one to the University of Virginia.

What makes the effort work so well is parental commitment and sustained, year-round attention. Once students are selected in the eighth grade, they must pledge to spend the next five Julys at Davidson, in addition to twice- monthly meetings that include English and math workshops and SAT reviews during the regular school year. Parents must promise to participate in quarterly discussions of topics ranging from high school-course selection to college financial aid. "This is a student and parent program," says Tapia. "I make it clear that I won't accept a child whose parent doesn't consent to being involved."

During the summer session, students bunk down in a Davidson dorm and are awakened each morning at 6 by one of the 19 college-age counselor-mentors who live there with them. The schedule is intensive: classes run from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and youngsters are required to be in their rooms doing homework until 10 p.m. The packed curriculum includes lessons twice a week in leadership, spiritual development and "wellness," a catchall term for such subjects as sexuality and drug use. "Students can't graduate if they're pregnant or addicted," explains wellness instructor Georgia Ringle. "And these kids are at risk for such things."

Most of this summer's 25 teachers are drawn from Davidson or the Charlotte- Mecklenburg school system. The majority are African American, and all are expected to weave black history and culture into their lessons. Ninth-graders read Richard Wright's Black Boy: A Record of Childhood & Youth, as well as Romeo and Juliet. Science lectures stress African-American inventors. "I tell them that just because you're cocoa brown doesn't mean your brain doesn't function,"' says physical science teacher Brooksetta Davidson. "These kids don't have anyone to push them. That's my role."

The goal is to create an extended family of support during the critical precollege years, teach youngsters good study habits and bolster their self- confidence. Love of Learning hopes to counteract the message many kids hear from their peers: doing well academically is for blacks who are trying to "act white." "In high school, if you're black, you're laughed at for showing an aptitude for anything other than sports," says Davidson sophomore Nethea Rhinehardt, 19, a Love of Learning alumna who returned this summer as a counselor-mentor. "Love of Learning was the first time I'd ever been able to be myself."

This year's crop of students seems to agree. "Some kids say it's dumb to spend your summer studying," says 11th-grader Carla Brice, 16, who hopes eventually to attend Howard University. "When I grow up, I want to be giving out jobs, not looking for one at McDonald's."

During the regular academic year, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools send grades to Love of Learning administrators so that they can monitor students' progress. Parents are encouraged to accompany their children on organized cultural outings, which last year included a reading by black poet Lucille Clifton. "I get something out of this, and I know my child does," says auto technician John Carouthers, whose daughter Stephanie will be in 11th grade this fall. "This program is giving our kids something we can't."

Love of Learning accepts just 30 new students a year and is expensive to run: the cost to Davidson is about $3,000 per pupil annually, with most of the money provided by corporations and foundations. The scheme has worked so well that it has already spawned imitators. Four other small, Southern liberal-arts schools -- Furman, Rhodes, the University of the South and Washington and Lee -- are considering launching similar programs, two as early as next summer. "We treasure the hope that this is replicable," says Davidson College president John Kuykendall. Love of Learning teacher Davidson concurs. "If you can't give these kids anthing else,"she says, "give them hope."