Tracy R. Rone, a research associate at the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University, will present “The Baltimore Lead and Succeed Program: A Blueprint for Creating a Community of Academic Excellence in Baltimore City” on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009 at Loyola College in Maryland. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. in McGuire Hall East on Loyola’s North Charles Street campus and will be followed by Q&A and light refreshments. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.

Her address will consider the Baltimore Lead and Succeed program, a proposed solution to the ongoing issue of low academic achievement in Baltimore City. The program calls for active partnership among students, parents, schools, community organizations, businesses and higher education institutions to forge a community where leadership and academic excellence for youth are perceived as imperatives for the development of human potential, capacity-building, and community growth and sustainability. The model demands active collaboration, and the engagement of underutilized resources in the Baltimore area.

Rone’s appearance is co-hosted by Peter C. Murrell, Jr., founding dean of Loyola’s planned School of Education and by the Institute of Urban Research at Morgan State. Set to launch in the fall, the School has begun a series of events designed to encourage dialogue surrounding issues related directly to its unique mission—the advancement of achievement and development of city children and youth that is based on an analytical framework of identity, race and culture.

This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For more information, call 410-617-5550, or click here to reserve your seats.