It's mid-afternoon on a hot summer day in Mississippi, and Matt Dolan '82 has assembled a small army of promising high school students at Mississippi State University in Starkville for some academic adventuring.
"They're all upstairs right now," Dolan says, chuckling slightly but bracing for the logistical journey ahead. "It is a very complicated process, getting everyone here, signed up, and started for camp. But they're great kids. All they want to do is work hard and learn."
Roughly 150 participants from across the Delta in northwestern Mississippi and beyond - students from rural, low-income school districts - will immerse themselves in a free, week-long bootcamp devoted to college-level science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills. They'll get instruction, tutoring, and mentoring from faculty, alumni, and students from some of the best universities in the country, and be steeped in the wisdom and rigor inherent in a thriving college environment.
