Delaware College Scholars welcomes new program director

Delaware College Scholars recently welcomed Jordan Bonner as program director and community liaison.

Bonner, who received his master’s degree in psychology and education this spring from University of Cambridge in England, will be responsible for developing community partnerships on behalf of DCS and directing the three-week summer residential portion of the program. He will also serve as a resource for the freshman and sophomore college students, providing personalized academic and financial advice throughout their college experience.

A graduate of the KIPP Charter School network and St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Bonner received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wesleyan University. While there, he served as captain of the men’s basketball team where he scored 1,000 career points and was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. 

DCS Executive Drector Dr. Tony Alleyne said, "Jordan is the embodiment of what we want for our program. To have his drive, energy, innovation and dedication full time has already increased the capacity of DCS to a new height, which is exciting for all of our scholars – past, current and future."

Bonner is already drawing on his extensive global network to better position DCS scholars for success. On the DCS podcast, he has interviewed Eric Hutcherson, executive vice president and chief people and inclusion officer at Universal Music Group, and former director of human resources at the NBA, to discuss how he makes important career and life decisions. Bonner also has pulled together an impressive group of women working in STEM across the world to highlight the barriers they’ve encountered and successes they’ve had working at NASA and in academia.

Continuing to expand his network, Bonner was was just selected to serve as a National College Attainment Network Advocacy Fellow, whereby he will engage in national policy discussion surrounding the Pell Grant program, and has been selected for the 2021 Leadership Delaware class, where he will be prepared to achieve the highest levels of leadership. 

In addition to his role with DCS, Bonner is also serving as the first research associate at Virginia Union University’s Center for the Study of Historical Black Colleges and Universities. Here, his work is focused on fostering a space where creative, like-minded HBCU education scholars can connect and collaborate to rewrite the narrative, producing rigorous, evidence-based research to advocate for higher education issues that impact the nation’s HBCUs and vulnerable, underrepresented populations.

Delaware College Scholars is a leading college preparation and college persistence program in Delaware. For high-achieving, under-resourced, public high school students, DCS’ seven-year, tuition-free program provides its scholars with a clear path to college graduation from competitive four-year universities. Scholars prepare for college acceptance and success by participating in one of the most academically rigorous college-level curricula in the state and receiving year-round personal counseling during their college years.

To date, 91 percent of Delaware College Scholars, who are often the first in their family to attend college, have gone on to four-year institutions of higher learning.

For more information, go to delawarecollegescholars.com.