Regarding the May 27 opinion piece by Chezare A. Warren titled “Urban Prep Academies put reputation ahead of results”:
In May 2014, Chezare Warren approached us and indicated that he wanted to discuss our experience as students at Urban Prep. We were happy to do so since Urban Prep had been an important part of our lives. In his essay for The Conversation (which the Tribune reprinted), however, Mr. Warren has betrayed that trust by taking our statements out of context, misrepresenting our feelings and attacking our alma mater for personal gain.
Urban Prep provided us with educational opportunities that we would not have been able to receive elsewhere. We met daily with mentors; heard from accomplished black men like Spike Lee and Henry Louis Gates; traveled to Springfield and Washington to witness Barack Obama’s journey from candidate to president; met with executives who work in Chicago; and spent summers at some of the world’s finest institutions of higher learning.
We had dedicated teachers, mentors and administrators who worked with us to ensure that we were not only academically prepared for college but also that we would possess the grit necessary to succeed. These men and women were with us our entire high school tenure; Mr. Warren, on the other hand, was our teacher for one school year before leaving Urban Prep.
We had a college counselor from day one; our first field trip was to Northwestern University to meet with students, professors and admissions reps; and we recited a creed every morning that included the line, “We are college-bound.” Many of us started Urban Prep below grade level, and we knew that our ACT scores wouldn’t be what got us into college, so we worked hard inside and outside the classroom.
During senior year, when our college admissions letters began rolling in, we were tremendously excited and proud. This wasn’t supposed to happen at a public school in Englewood with mostly poor black boys, but it did. Every time a student was admitted to college, the school would make an announcement and celebrate us. It made us feel like superheroes and pro athletes. It also made us feel like we had a huge responsibility.
After leaving Urban Prep, members of our class enrolled in universities including the University of Virginia, the University of Rochester, Morehouse College, Penn State University, Dillard University, Cornell University and Howard University. If you just look at numbers on a page, you’d see that we weren’t supposed to succeed in college: We didn’t meet “college readiness benchmarks”; we were first-generation college attendees; and we were economically disadvantaged black males from the “’hood.” But we did graduate from college.
In fact, Urban Prep continued to help us while we were in college by providing counseling, mentoring and financial support. We excelled at times and struggled at other times, but probably no more or less than any student on our campuses. Anyone who says that Urban Prep didn’t help us get into college, prepare us for college, help us get through college or care about us is wrong.
Urban Prep prepared us for college. And, more importantly, we believe that no other high school could’ve better prepared us for life.
— Krishaun Branch, Cameron Barnes, Tyler Beck, Jamil Boldian, Jerry Hinds, Jessie Mack and Deontae Moore, Urban Prep Class of 2010
Expunge records of pot offenses
Suddenly Illinois awakens to the fact that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol. But now that we recognize this, why can’t we expunge all the records of these offenses instead of requiring each to be petitioned and brought before a judge? If this is merely to make more money in our criminal justice system, then let’s call it out as unnecessary.
— Lee Knohl, Evanston
Term limits and pensions
Hey Gov. J.B. Pritzker, now that you’re going to let us vote on whether to create a graduated income tax system, let us vote on term limits and changing the defined benefit state pensions we can’t afford to a 401(k) plan. Let us really save the state of Illinois and not just give you more tax dollars to spend. Whaddya say, Governor?
— Ron Karlic, Palos Heights