William Keyes and Adam Barr started a trip through New England by visiting Institute scholar Ashley Simms at the State University of New York at Albany.  Ashley, who will return to Washington in June for his second summer with the Institute, is majoring in Political Science and will pursue a career in the Foreign Service. 

At Williams College, Keyes and Barr enjoyed meeting students who were friends of Inaugural Class alumnus Ricardo Woolery (Williams ’05).  They also had the opportunity to meet with professors who were in position to recommend students.  Woolery was presented the William Bradford Award for Citizenship at graduation last May, recognizing him for his contributions to the college community.

In Amherst, Massachusetts, Institute alumnus John Saunders hosted Keyes and Barr for an information session with students at the University of Massachusetts’ honors program, Commonwealth College.  Saunders is an outstanding student in the honors college.  Afterward, Saunders traveled across town with his guests to accompany them for a similar meeting at Amherst College.  Following that visit, students have expressed their interest in applying for the 2006-2007 sessions.

In the Boston area, the Institute staff visited Tufts, Harvard, MIT, Boston College and Boston University.  And in Providence, Rhode Island, they visited Providence College and Brown University.

Following the visits to these campuses, Barr continued on to Yale University, where he visited his fellow Inaugural Class member Elijah Heyward, who is in his first year at the Yale Divinity School.  While there, a mini-reunion was convened.  Those who gathered there included John Saunders (UMass), Bernard Holloway (UNC-Chapel Hill), Jermaine Van Hannegeyn (Benedict College), Adrian Hopkins (Yale) and Jaison Oliver (Yale), brother of Institute alumnus Christien Oliver (Michigan State).  Keyes had visited Yale on September 23.