Two Seniors Earn Coveted Posse Scholarships

Since 1989, Posse’s sixty three partner colleges have awarded $1.6 billion in scholarships to over 10,000 Scholars. The foundation’s goals include expanding the pool from which top colleges and universities recruit outstanding young leaders, helping these institutions be more welcoming for people from all backgrounds, and ensuring that Posse Scholars persist in their academic studies and graduate so they can take on leadership positions in the workforce.

Both Omaru and Carla underwent the foundation’s lengthy application and interview process known as the Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP)—a unique evaluation method that identifies young leaders with great potential. Running from September through December each year, DAP finds students who might be missed by the traditional admissions criteria at highly selective schools and uses nontraditional forums to evaluate potential. After each cycle, Posse staff and partner college administrators ultimately select a diverse group of ten students — a Posse — for each institution. 

College Counselor Lizabeth Riggs worked closely with both Omaru and Carla throughout the process. She explains that fewer than five-percent of applicants are selected as Posse Scholars. "Ever since Carla and Omaru were nominated for the Posse Scholars program, they have consistently shown up and demonstrated a strong desire to succeed,” she says. “Both scholars showcased their exceptional leadership skills and their ability to collaborate with others in the selection process during three intense interview rounds, which ultimately led to their acceptance into the program.”  

Omaru will be attending Pomona College in California where he will study psychology. At Loyola, Omaru excels on the football and track teams and is a member of the Philosophy Club, African American Youth Group (AAYG), Hispanic Youth Group, and the Poetry Club. His favorite classes? History and architecture. “I believe architecture and history work hand in hand,” he says. “There are so many structures from the past that modern architects could learn from. Architecture is a very important part of our society and the things architecture could do to better our society is amazing.” Omaru plans to use his passion for architecture to develop beautiful, high quality, low income homes for less fortunate people around the world. “I lived my life seeing people on the street and some of my friends in homeless shelters,” he explains. “It pains me to see that this is the world I live in. Architecture is the key for income equality in the future. Before I get to that part in my life, I want to make my mother proud by going to college and coming out with a degree.”  

Carla is headed to Cornell University in New York to study economics. As a Rambler, she participates in a variety of activities from the Math Team to UniDos and service opportunities at soup kitchens and tutoring centers through Loyola’s Arrupe Service Program. Her favorite classes at Loyola are physics and math. “I enjoy finding connections between what I learn in the classroom and what I experience in my everyday life,” she says. In the future, Carla’s goal is to become a partner at an investment management firm and hopes to use her education to start a consulting firm with her brother.

“Carla and Omaru share a keen sense of awareness of where they have been and where they hope to go, while remaining firmly grounded in the present,” adds Riggs.  “They fully embraced the experience while building strong connections with their Posse mentors, fellow scholars and within the Loyola Academy community.”

More about the program can be found at https://www.possefoundation.org/.