Dear Eagle Editorial Staff:
I would like to respond to a recent article regarding AU's Mentorship Program. Interim Provost Ivy Broder has already set the record straight by indicating that she was misquoted in her remarks about the program.
Beyond this, I wish to emphasize that the fortunate cohort of American University's first year students enrolled in the Mentorship Program are very fine students with average SAT scores of beyond 1200. This places them in an elite category among those who take the test each year. Of course, many studies (including a recent one done at Bates College in Maine) have demonstrated that high SAT scores are not necessarily correlated with student success in college! Nevertheless, American University mentorship students are of such high quality that they are not among the several thousand rejected for admission each year by our Office of Enrollment Services. Furthermore many of them come to us with AP courses towards their American University degrees.
When our mentorship students arrived in late August, I told them and their parents that they are first-class citizens at American University.
Ultimately, we are very proud of our mentorship students. Most are excelling academically and they have created a very positive image for American University throughout the Washington community. I only wish that more American University freshmen could have this incredible academic opportunity.
Sincerely,
David C. Brown, Dean
Washington Semester Program
