Three days at McMaster to show prospective students the pathway to university

Hamilton, Ont. May 18, 2011—Sixty Grade 7 pupils are arriving at McMaster today as they begin three days of campus life, in a pilot project designed to show them university is well within their reach.

The pupils are coming by city bus from Cathy Wever School on Wentworth Street North in central Hamilton.

While on campus, the visitors will stay in a student residence, eat at student dining facilities, tour attractions such as the planetarium and the student-run radio station, hike along wooded trails, tackle the outdoor climbing tower, see a lacrosse game at Ron Joyce Stadium and learn about the academic and social aspects of university life.

Having the pupils use public transit to get to McMaster is meant to reinforce how easy it is to travel from their neighborhood to the university.

The pilot project was conceived by City of Hamilton public health nurse Laura Laverty, who works at the school in partnership with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, and McMaster’s Dean of Social Sciences, Charlotte Yates.

Laverty says it’s vital that students know there are many educational pathways open to them, and that university is an important destination for them to consider.

Yates says Laverty approached her about finding a way to offer such an opportunity to Cathy Wever pupils before they reach high school and begin making choices about their education and working futures. Much of the project’s funding came from fundraising efforts based at the school.

The university itself and the McMaster-Community Poverty Initiative are supporters of the pilot project.

“It is important that prospective students from all parts of our community understand that a McMaster education is within reach,” says McMaster President Patrick Deane. “We welcome these young visitors, just as we welcome the opportunity to reinforce the fact that this is truly a public institution.”

Yates says showing young people the pathway to post-secondary education can open their minds to new possibilities.

“We wanted them to have the kind of experience that would open up their world,” Yates says. “We want all those students who are able and desiring a post-secondary education of some sort to know that it’s possible.”

McMaster University, one of four Canadian universities listed among the Top 100 universities in the world, is renowned for its innovation in both learning and discovery. It has a student population of 23,000, and more than 140,000 alumni in 128 countries.

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For more information, please contact:

Wade Hemsworth

Public Relations Manager

McMaster University

905-525-9140 ext. 27988

hemswor@mcmaster.ca

Michelle Donovan

Public Relations Manager

McMaster University

905-525-9140 ext. 22869

donovam@mcmaster.ca