Columbia’s Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center has received funding to begin Project Start Right, a mentorship program for BIPOC first-generation, low-income college students from Upper Manhattan.

On Wednesday, March 27, the Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center (DDC) announced its plan to create a new program for BIPOC first-generation, low-income college students from Upper Manhattan. The program, titled Project Start Right, will provide “intensive mentoring” to reduce college attrition, or dropout, rates, according to an announcement by Columbia Neighbors. Through this program, first- and second-year college students from Columbia’s neighboring areas West Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood will receive mentoring in academic, financial, and social-emotional wellness. 

The program is supported by $388,000 allocated by New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in a fiscal year 2024 spending bill. “Because of their efforts,” President Minouche Shafik stated, “Project Start Right will provide valuable counseling to young college enrollees from Upper Manhattan, with the goal of removing any obstacles that stand in the way of a completed college degree.” 

The DDC has been working since 1965 to inspire academic success in first-generation, low-income college students from Upper Manhattan. As one of the only college access and success programs in the United States, the DDC partners with local schools to serve over 1,000 local students. Through its efforts, over 25,000 local youth have entered and graduated from college. Currently, the DDC serves high schoolers and works toward college readiness. Project Start Right will expand the program to college students in their first or second year. 

Lerner Hall via Bwog Archives.