About the STRUTS Mentoring Initiative
The mentoring initiative is a new addition to the STRUTS program for the 2007-2008 school year, funded by a Michigan Campus Compact Brighter Futures Grant as part of their Investing in College Futures (ICF) program. ICF aims to benefit disadvantaged youth and positively reinforce the merits of higher education among current students and disadvantaged youth. With consideration to the unique disadvantages, particularly in the areas of completing high school and continuing to higher education, faced by GLBTQ youth, STRUTS believes that one-to-one mentoring with Central Michigan University students and experiences centered on campus can help GLBTQ students and allies build a broader support network, become familiar with campus community and, possibly for the first time, consider higher education as not only an option, but as a desirable goal.
While each youth’s experience is unique, many GLBTQ students face terrible isolation, harassment and abuse in their school, and sometimes in their home lives. These students are often forced to live secretive and terribly stressful lives. Even in the case of youth with a supportive network of family and/or friends, life for GLBTQ youth can be uniquely challenging at an already complex stage in development. We hope to offer social and academic support as well as an outlet for the frustrations and hopes of GLBTQ youth and allies in the Central Michigan area.
The deadline to submit applications for the Fall 07 Semester is Friday, September 14, 2007, but applications will be accepted throughout the school year for future openings. Applications can be dropped off at Sloan 101D. Please forward all questions to Rachel Prevatt, STRUTS Program Coordinator.
Application: consolidated_application.pdf 