First-year student Melina Castillo came to Pittsburgh from Los Angeles to attend Carnegie Mellon University. A cross-country move during a pandemic is already a challenge, and Castillo had added obstacles that come with a limited-resource background. Luckily, Castillo is part of the Tartan Scholars, a CMU program specially designed to support students who are academically high-achieving but may have experienced opportunity gaps.
"It's definitely something I find comfort in," said Castillo, who is enrolled in the College of Engineering, of Tartan Scholars. "If I didn't have this, I would feel alone, especially with the remote format where it's hard to meet people."
The program, made possible by a five-year gift from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, focuses on connection, communication and coaching. Now in its second year, Tartan Scholars has doubled the number of first-year students it supports to 100 and has expanded programming to include the initial cohort during their second year at CMU.
"Tartan Scholars has been a transformative program not just for many of the Scholars, themselves, but also for our campus community. It has given us a lens to see institutional programs, policies and practices in a new light and the lessons learned have shaped the ongoing work to help all students thrive," said Amy Burkert, vice provost for education.