it only took them 15 minutes to review it and give the
go-ahead.”
The Rutgers Future Scholars program, now in its
fourth year, was designed to resolve an existing lack of
urban-based students from lower-
income families from Rutgers’ sur-
rounding locales. Each year, 200
seventh-grade students are selected
into the five-year college-prep
program from the New Brunswick,
Piscataway, Newark and Camden
communities.
The students are supported
with tutoring and mentoring and
are given opportunities to attend
educational events on campus
to increase their exposure to the
opportunities a college education can
deliver. Graduating scholars who are
accepted to Rutgers University are
granted a full scholarship.
The program receives funding from multiple partners, which
include DiversityInc and Merck
& Co. (No. 16 in The DiversityInc
Top 50 Companies for Diversity),
AT&T (No. 4), Target (No. 30) and
Ernst & Young (No. 6). Additionally,
DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti
is co-chair of the Rutgers Future
Scholars fundraising committee.
tively inexpensive, where we can spend $2,000 a year
per kid rather than $45,000 for someone in prison.”
Even though the oldest group of students is still in
the junior year of high school, the program has already
had amazing results: Of the more
than 800 students in the program,
80 percent have maintained a B or
better grade average, and 180 stu-
dents report that they plan to apply
to Rutgers in September.
“One argument in higher educa-
tion is if you are open to more low-
income or more diverse students,
you are lowering academic stan-
dards,” says McAnuff. “At Rutgers,
we’ve proven that incorrect.”
He adds, “I’m happy to say after
four years that none of the kids in
the program has dropped out of
high school.”
COURTNEY MCANUFF
CURRENT POSITION
Vice President, Enrollment
Management, Rutgers University
PROFESSIONAL
Vice President for
Enrollment Services, Eastern
Michigan University
Director of Financial Aid,
Farmingdale State College
EDUCATION
City College of New York,
Hofstra University, Wayne State
University
COMMUNITY
President’s Administrative
Council and Cabinet member of
Rutgers University
PERSONAL
Born and raised in New York
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Chancellor’s Award, Most
Outstanding Administrator, State
University of New York System
Administrator of the Year,
Eastern Michigan University
Gold Medallion Award,
Eastern Michigan University
Boss of the Year & Outstanding
Achievement Awards,
Multicultural Center
Blueprint for the Future
The ultimate goal, says McAnuff, is to
increase graduation rates, which in
turn will foster improvements within
state and local governments. He cites
that about half the Black and Latino
boys in urban areas who drop out of high school often
end up in the correctional system; an economic study on
Rutgers Future Scholars estimates that every group of
scholars that completes the program will save the state
$40 million over the course of the students’ lifetime.
Read the study at www.DiversityInc.com/RFSvalue.
“I do hope that one day we can make the argument to
state and federal governments that we can demonstrate
with results,” McAnuff says. “Because of our experience,
we can actually write a national blueprint that is rela-
Nurturing Intellect
While an interest in higher education and helping students realize
success is something McAnuff fell in
love with during his early career as
a teacher, his passion for providing
those opportunities for low-income
students stems from his childhood
growing up in Queens, N. Y.
“There was no middle ground:
You went to college or you went to
jail,” says McAnuff. “My next-door
neighbor was my best friend until
the third year of high school. He
He adds, “If you have intellect,
you have a chance here. I want to
make sure as many kids as possible have the opportunity
to try.”
Competing against tough neighborhood environ-
ments proves to be one of the programs’ and scholars’
greatest challenges, says McAnuff. “I was really sur-
prised how the deans jumped on board so wholeheart-
edly,” he says. “Many students are now graduating high
school, many with college credit, which was unheard of
before. The kids believe they can do it now.” I
“If you have intellect, you have a chance here. I want to make sure
as many kids as possible have the opportunity to try.”
For more on diversity leadership, visit
