Bill Gates Speaks on DSU Student Success Efforts – Video

Bill Gates has posted a video on his GatesNotes.com website in which he shares his thoughts about the work of Delaware State University to achieve student success for low-income and first-generation students.

To view the video, click on the below link:

https://www.gatesnotes.com/Education/What-Makes-a-College-Great

The video is a continuation of partnership that has developed between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and DSU. The Gates Foundation is closely following DSU’s cutting edge Individualized Development Plan (IDP) Initiative – which has been launched with the Fall 2016 freshmen class – and is supporting the University's rigorous assessment of it through a $1.2 million grant.

The Gates Foundation grant will support the requisite data collection and analysis that will be critical in assessing the effectiveness of student success.

Earlier this month, DSU President Harry L. Williams traveled to Seattle, Wash, to meet with Mr. Gates and his foundation officials. He was accompanied on the trip by Dr. Teresa Hardee, senior vice president of Finance and Administration and chief operating officer, Dr. Saundra DeLauder, interim associate provost and dean of Graduate Studies, and three DSU students – Selena Nixon, Edgar E. Ortiz and Kyle Sheppard.

Soon thereafter, the Gates Foundation sent a film crew to DSU to collect the footage that has become a part of the video. In the video, Mr. Gates talks about DSU and Johnson C. Smith University efforts to help students who may not have come from the best environment to achieve their higher education and professional aspirations. The video also features comments from the DSU president, music by the DSU Concert Choir and footage of Del State students and the campus.