[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 122 (Friday, July 27, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BLACK COLLEGE STUDENTS FOCUS ON MATH AND SCIENCES

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                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 27, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce an article 
entitled, ``Challenges for Black Colleges' Brightest in the Lab,'' 
written by Samuel G. Freeman in the New York Times on July 18, 2007. 
This article is about a new program that brings gifted science and 
technology students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities 
in the South, like Morehouse College in Atlanta, to two major Research 
Universities.
  Talented science students participate in an eight-week immersion 
program known as STEM which stands for science, technology, 
engineering, and math--career fields in which black students continue 
to be highly underrepresented. STEM was founded by Mr. Adam W. Herbert 
who became the first black president of Indiana University. There are 5 
students participating in the program this summer at the Indiana-Purdue 
campus and at the University of Indiana at Bloomington where they join 
the research teams of renowned professors. The students get free room 
and board, a $4,000 stipend, and various development training sessions 
and lectures outside the lab such as writing grant applications and 
preparation sessions for the Graduate Record Examination. In exchange, 
the two universities get an inside track on recruiting highly capable 
blacks for graduate study.
  I applaud Mr. Herbert, Indiana University, and Purdue University for 
launching this initiative to bridge the gap for blacks in the science 
and technology field. I am positive that this program will be 
successful in developing young black students by situating them to 
succeed in a career path that only a handful of African Americans have 
reached before. This is an exceptional commitment to the American 
values of diversity, equality, and opportunity.

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