DePauw grads accepted to Teach for America

A total of 19 May 2009 graduates of DePauw University are committed to Teach For America (TFA) for the next two years.

That represents a new record high, exceeding 2007's total by four, and an all-time high 25 DePauw seniors were accepted for TFA. With about 4 percent of its graduating seniors entering TFA, DePauw is among the nation's strongest contributors to the program.

A total of 70 DePauw students --13.6 percent of the senior class --applied to Teach For America. That percentage slightly exceeded Ivy League participation rates. Among small colleges (2,999 or fewer undergraduates), only Barnard (21) and College of the Holy Cross (20) have more graduated seniors committed to TFA than DePauw.

Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in ensuring educational equity and excellence for all children. Its mission is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting the nation's most promising future leaders in the effort.

As the Associated Press reports, "When school starts next fall, Teach for America will send 4,100 new recruits into classrooms across the country," the largest incoming corps in its history. "More than 35,000 graduating seniors applied, an increase of 42 percent over last year. At Ivy League schools, 11 percent of all seniors applied."

Incoming corps members earned an average GPA of 3.6 and a combined SAT score of 1333, and 89 percent held leadership positions as undergraduates. Almost one-third of incoming corps members are people of color, and one-quarter received Pell Grants.

"We're inspired by the record number of outstanding recent graduates who are choosing to channel their talent and energy toward addressing the unacceptable disparities in educational outcomes that persist in our country," said Wendy Kopp, Teach For America's founder and chief executive officer. "Our corps members and alumni, together with many other educators, are demonstrating every day that it is possible to ensure that all of our nation's children have the opportunities they need to excel academically. We're excited about the leadership and energy this new group -- our largest and highest-caliber ever -- will bring to our efforts."

Members of the Class of 2009 who will Teach For America are (names are followed by the cities/states to which they've been assigned):

* Michael Beeman (South Louisiana)

* Aretha Butler (New York City)

* Ashley Carter (Indianapolis)

* India Chambers (Mississippi Delta)

* Ashley Chin (Houston)

* Ashley Clark (Nashville)

* Ellen Dollarhide (Tulsa)

* Eleese Dorsey (Hawaii)

* Katherine Gladson (Kansas City)

* Kathryn Hyde (Houston)

* Tina Irvine (Indianapolis)

* Matthew Jennings (Houston)

* Kristine Lewry (South Louisiana)

* Jessica Pesola (Chicago)

* Marjorie Ramirez-Lino (Houston)

* Leah Seigel (Phoenix)

* Alex Spangler (Philadelphia)

* Kimberley Stowers (Denver)

* Ian Yearwood (Indianapolis)

DePauw University has had consistently strong participation in Teach For America in recent years:

* 2008: 72 applicants, 17 accepted, 13 joined

* 2007: 56 applicants, 19 accepted, 15 joined

* 2006: 50 applicants, 15 accepted, 14 joined

* 2005: 38 applicants, 14 accepted, 13 joined

* 2004: 36 applicants, 12 accepted, 4 joined

* 2003: 28 applicants, 9 accepted, 8 joined

A nationally-distributed announcement last October cited DePauw, Morehouse, Yale, Notre Dame and Harvard as the top schools for Teach For America applicants last year.

On May 26, 2006, Inside Higher Ed featured three 2006 DePauw graduates who opted to Teach For America in a story headlined, "The Hot Choice, Post-College."