AN INCENTIVE TO GIVE

Komi Akoumany's slow, shy grin hints at the young man's modest character. He doesn't talk easily about himself. When asked about the next stage of his 19-year-old life, however, he beams and words jumble together as he tries to explain.

A new University of Maryland Incentive Awards Program scholar, Akoumany received a full ride to the university beginning this fall. In terms of distance and expectations, it is miles away from where his life was headed in his native Togo, West Africa. "It's unbelievable. I would never think about anything like this happening to me. It happens on TV," he says.

This sentiment is echoed in many scholars' stories. Their circumstances differ, but what it means to them to receive a full award (tuition, room and board) to the state's flagship institution is the same. It means opportunities beyond their imaginations. Now in its sixth year, the Incentive Awards Program, or IAP was started in Baltimore City, creating a pipeline into Maryland for students from a number of the city's public high schools. President Dan Mote modeled the Incentive Awards on a similar program he started while at the University of California, Berkeley. Akoumany is in the first class of students from the program's expansion into Prince George's County Public Schools this year. The chosen young people demonstrate not only academic promise, but they do so in the face of sometimes harsh circumstances.

"These students have faced significant loss, volatility and struggle throughout their lives," says Jacqueline Lee, director of IAP. "But they persevere. They rely on incredible fortitude and strength of character to succeed academically, socially and, after graduation, professionally." Lee and others say the program is not about scholarships, as much as it is about fulfilling the university's promise to provide greater access while maintaining quality. What Christopher Brown '06 wants people to understand is that being an Incentive Awards Scholar doesn't mean receiving handouts.

"If you want to walk in our shoes," concedes Brown, and earn a scholarship that way, "go ahead." He doesn't recommend it. "It's hard working six days a week and keeping good grades. A lot of other students just don't understand," he says shaking his head. During high school Brown worked two jobs, in the training department at the Bosch tool company and at a supermarket, in order to help his grandmother take care of him and a younger cousin.

The reward, though, was worth it.

Brown, who graduated with a political science degree and now works for the Environmental Protection Agency, talks about all of the cultures he's been exposed to and how much he's learned—about himself and others. "I've met so many different kinds of people, people I wouldn't have met otherwise," he says.

During visits to his former high school as part of IAP's community outreach component, he told students, " ‘You can do it too. This is not your last stop.' Once you establish that, then you start talking specifics on how to make it happen."

"It was so much more than I ever expected," agrees Kelly Smith '06, who spent 30 days in Italy as a study abroad student and attended plays with other scholars. She thought Maryland was for rich kids. Coming from a tough Baltimore neighborhood, where she was enrolled in the low-achieving and now-closed Southern High School, Smith knew the odds were against her. What the odds didn't count on were Smith's intense determination and her supportive family. A recipient of one of two Murray and Suzanne Valenstein Incentive Awards, Smith also found immediate mentors.

"Here was a program with an objective that made a great deal of sense to us. It is an investment of a very, very special kind," says Murray Valenstein. Though he and his wife are graduates of Baltimore city schools, giving to IAP went beyond that connection.

"You can take some pride in having chosen a stock or a bond, seeing its value increase, but it is nothing compared to the satisfaction of seeing these youngsters emerge and blossom as they do. All you have to do is provide funds that enable a process to take place."

Akoumany demonstrates the process' ripple effect. Though he has been in America since 2000, he doesn't forget Togo. He says that for many in his country, escaping poverty means coming to the United States. A graduate of Central High School in Capitol Heights, he intends to use his Maryland opportunity to help provide advantages for his countrymen. With money he's earned as a Web site designer for aerospace services company Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies Inc., in Greenbelt, Akoumany wants to work with family friends still in Togo to begin setting up free computer labs.

"I was fortunate to meet Komi during graduation and the Incentive Awards ceremonies," says John Deasy, superintendent for Prince George's County Public Schools. "He is extremely impressive, humble and determined to succeed. His goals are admirable."