MILWAUKEE — With the school year just around the corner, Marquette students are moving back onto campus on Wednesday.
The transition to college can be daunting for anyone, but underrepresented students and first-generation students face their own unique challenges. Marquette's RISE (Ready to Inspire Success and Excellence) program aims to make the transition to college a little bit easier for those students.
"RISE is a multi-cultural, pre-orientation program. It's usually a three-day program that strives to help students acclimate to the Milwaukee community and the Marquette community at the same time," explained Marquette's Assistant Director of the Center for Engagement and Inclusion Tamra Keith.
Students who are part of the RISE program have been on campus since Monday meeting staff, learning about the university, taking tours of the city, and getting paired up with a student mentor.
Daequan Muirhead, a junior studying digital media, is one of this year's RISE mentors.
"I love to see other people start to find themselves and find their place, and this program just has so much of that," Muirhead said of why he wanted to be a mentor. "I get to be one of those people that can actually be a guide to these students. I can be someone who is willing and able to invest my own time, my own energy, and my own resources into making sure these students can have the building blocks."
According US News Best College Report, Marquette's student population is 68% white. Hispanic students make up 16% of the population, Asian students account for 6% and Black students make up just 4% of the student body.
Muirhead said college campuses in general have work to do when it comes to diversity and cultural awareness, including his own university. He's glad to see programs like RISE exist to welcome students to campus.
"Programs like RISE are so instrumental in showing that there is a culture of acceptance and welcomeness [sic] for people of color on campus," Muirhead said. "This will make the biggest first impression, period. And to show that there are people of color, professional staff that can guide you to where you need to go, that there are student leaders that also look like you, that are going through the same thing that you're going through, that have already been through their first year, that can give you their best advice. It's amazing!"
And the program isn't just there to welcome students to campus, it's intended to be a support for them throughout the school year.
"I'm mostly just excited to see where they go after this. Like what clubs do they join? Who do they turn to for advice? I hope it's me!" Muirhead shared.
Students who weren't part of the pre-orientation program can still get involved with RISE throughout the school year by contacting the Center for Engagement and Inclusion on campus.
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