Questions? Contact:
Lenny Howard
Asst. Vice President
Academic Services
wlhoward@smcm.edu
240.895.4388
Sybol Anderson
Faculty Director
scanderson@smcm.edu
240.895.4278
Upcoming Events
DB Summer Research Symposium
Friday, July 13
9:00 a.m.
Glendening Annex
DB Summer Bridge 2012!
July 15 to 28
Campus Leaders
DeSousa-Brent Scholars welcome prospective students and parents at Admissions Open Houses.
Promoting Inclusiveness
Scholars host annual visits to the Latin American Youth Centers in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, MD, to promote St. Mary's to talented high school students.
DESOUSA-BRENT SCHOLARS PROGRAM
ABOUT US
The DeSousa-Brent Scholars Program cultivates the academic and leadership potential of talented students from traditionally underrepresented groups at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. By identifying and supporting students of diverse backgrounds, the select program hopes to develop a community of scholars who will guide the College’s efforts to increase understanding of diversity and inclusion.
The program has a summer component and a two-semester seminar. During the two-week summer program, students interact with faculty, staff, student mentors, and other program participants to develop a campus support system, learn the benefits of collaboration, devise strategies for succeeding inside and outside of the classroom, and familiarize themselves with technologies that support academic success.
The year-long leadership seminar begins in the fall by focusing on cultivating a community of scholars within the larger campus community. Participants gain knowledge about the academic culture at St. Mary’s, the value of a liberal arts education, theories of identity development, and critical and creative thinking skills essential to academic success. The spring seminar explores the nature of leadership, its relationship to power, and its application to service. Throughout the first year, Scholars also participate in the Multicultural Achievement Peer Program (MAPP).
Once students successfully complete the two-semester seminar, they are eligible to apply to serve as DeSousa-Brent Mentors.
MATHIAS DESOUSA AND MARGARET BRENT
The DeSousa-Brent Scholars Program was named in 2008 for Mathias DeSousa and Margaret Brent, two important figures in the early history of Maryland at St. Mary’s City.
Mathias DeSousa was the first black man to have a vote as a landowner in the colony of Maryland. He began his time in Maryland as an indentured servant and eventually was released from servitude and became a landowner. He served in the legislative assembly.
Margaret Brent broke sex role barriers and social expectations for women of her time by becoming a landowner with her sister. She was trained as a lawyer and is known as the first suffragette.
Both DeSousa and Brent were leaders who moved themselves and their society forward. The DeSousa-Brent Scholars enter the St. Mary’s College community with that same sense of possibility for creating social change through leadership.
