POSITIONINGSTUDENTSTOTHRIVE
PROVIDED BY TONY ALLEN members of the students ’ communities also serve as “ the eyes and ears for identifying motivated high school sophomores and juniors ,” says Allen . When they champion the SDC experience , parents feel that it ’ s been vetted , and that it ’ ssafe tolet their children go on its programs .
Allen supports the positive word-ofmouth with alot of outreach . Hespoke to Johnson ’ sschool , and is friends with her English teacher ( Johnson also goes to the same church inNewark as afriend who went on SDC ’ sprogram to Uruguay , and heard about itfrom her .) Another presentation Allen made impressed Newark native Edwin Ramirez , who attended Seton Hall Prep on ascholarship from the school ’ s Griffin Bridges program . Ramirez found that the SDC program he attended in Morocco made the transition to Kenyon College in the tiny Ohio town of Gambier alot easier .
Akey to SDC ’ ssuccess , says Allen , is the authenticity and consistency of the experiences itoffers . “ Whether it ’ s domestically or abroad , webuild ongoing relationships with not-for-profit education partners inthose countries ,” he says .“ Sometimes they ’ re universities , sometimes they ’ re the Fulbright Scholars . They come in different shapes and sizes , but they ’ re all indigenous tothe countries .”
An example : aprogram set in Italy , Slovenia and Croatia called “ The Venetian Empire ” was designed by an Italian hosting partner and colleagues who are scholars . It explores the history of Venice and surrounding geography , and includes afamily stay in Trieste . As part of its look into the slow food movement in the Piedmont region , students engage ina “ Cheese- Off ” to see how many varieties they can name .
For promising students who can ’ t travel abroad because they ’ re undocumented , there ’ s the Student Diplomacy Experimental College ( SDXCO ), which grew out ofthe pandemic , when SDC ran virtual enrichment programs in cooking , first aid and CPR certification , learning Arabic and other topics . For SDXCO , SDC takes over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams during the summer . Five visiting university professors teach
PAYING IT FORWARD Tony Allen , right , with Dr . Tsz Kit Chan , avisiting professor who taught acourse in public health atthe SDXCO campus .
POSITIONINGSTUDENTSTOTHRIVE
TONY ALLEN , FOUNDERAND DIRECTOR , STUDENTDEMOCRACYCORPS
Tony Allen understands thevalue of making higher education available to motivated studentswhose parents didn ’ tgotocollege , since he was one himself . AConnecticut native , heand his five siblings were all firstgeneration college students . AtOberlin , Allen explored government and third world studies .
Since graduating in1988 , his career choiceshave all moved him closer to his current mission atSDC : using educationaltraveltohelpcollege-bound , underserved , lowerincome youthsucceed . While doing graduate work at the City University ofNew York Graduate Center in Public Policy , hedeveloped leadership projectsfor students of color through government internships and public affairs institutes at New York Citybased Prepfor Prep . Asthe directorofthe ExperimentinInternational Living , he oversaw about 900 studentsannually who attended summer enrichmentprograms abroad funded bytheir families and non-profit organizations .
His 18years at the Experiment underscored to Allen how eye-opening travelabroad can befor young people , and how the experience should beopen toall . With board member Ettie Philitas and others , helaunched SDC in 2013 . Now 10 years into its full operations , hekeeps in touchwithmany ofthe program ’ salumni , and estimatesthat he ’ s hired 30ofthem . “ They say that going onSDC and meeting and rubbing elbows with international scholars helped them see themselves atthe highest level ,” he says .
He is also full of praise for Montclair , which , onthe recommendation offriends , he moved towith wife Reina Smith in1999 . The couplehave two grown children who are both Montclair High Schoolgrads .
@ montclairmagazine MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE MAY 2024
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