The Charter Class
The first cohort was recruited from 9th graders at local schools for the summer of 1970. 25 students were selected from over 200 applicants.
OU deliberately targeted students at the end of the 9th grade, because of limited opportunities in some local high schools. As OU staff put it,
“the overcrowded conditions of most urban high schools make individual reading instruction impossible.”
"the general community atmosphere [was] not conducive to developing engineer-oriented students."
To be admitted, students had to be eligible for the Upward Bound program and demonstrate potential for college through high scores on numerical competency tests in a major area.
Out of the 25 selected students, 21 were African Americans and 2 were Hispanics.
They came from:
- Detroit (8)
- Pontiac (6)
- Oak Park (4)
- Ypsilanti (3)
- Ferndale (2)
- Hazel Park (2)
In Pierson's words, they were the “unsought and often untaught.”
He was impressed by these 14 to 16-year-olds, noting their “high interest in abstract reasoning ability, mechanical reasoning ability, numerical ability.”
Several came from families receiving federal assistance (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and many lived in public housing.
Quotation sources:
Student Services, Program Change Request and Cadet Engineering memo, folder "Upward Bound - Cadet Engineering Program, 1969-1971," box 12, Manuel Pierson Papers, Oakland University Archives.