Published: Jan. 27, 2000

Note to Editors: Photographers are welcome to attend this event.

The Minority Arts and Sciences Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder will announce a new mentoring partnership with the Kalmia Dreamer Class of the I Have a Dream Foundation on Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. in the MCD Biology Building fourth floor interactive room.

MASP, housed within the College of Arts and Sciences, is an academic excellence program emphasizing study leading to a bachelor's degree in selected science, mathematics, humanities and social science fields.

The Kalmia Dreamer class, sponsored by Midge Korczak of Boulder, is composed of 32 sixth through 10th grade students living in three low-income public housing sites.

According to Alphonse Keasley, MASP director, "This partnership represents a unique opportunity for our students to influence the next generation of college students. Our studentsÂ’ experience with academic excellence will probably inspire many of the Dreamers to new aspirations."

The announcement is part of a "Welcome Back" event which will acknowledge recipients of the Golden Buffalo award, a certificate given to all MASP students who achieved a 3.0 or better grade point average in the previous semester.

Â鶹ÒùÔº in the new MASP humanities and social sciences class, as well as new program instructors, will also be introduced.

The MASP mentoring program is another component in the partnership between CU-Boulder and the I Have a Dream Foundation which began in 1990. A number of Dreamers are now attending the university and more plan to enroll after high school graduation.

The CU-Boulder Minority Arts and Sciences program is acknowledged as one of the "best practices" models for recruiting, retaining and graduating minority students.

For more information, call (303) 492-8229 or visit the MASP Web site at .