Holy Cross Is Top Contributor of Teach For America for 7th Year in a Row



Following in the pattern of the last six years, the College of the Holy Cross is named among the top contributors to Teach for America for the seventh year in a row. Teach for America is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenge of poverty.

With 10 alumni joining Teach for America’s 2015 teaching corps, Holy Cross was ranked the fifth highest contributors among small colleges and universities. These alumni help make up the 4,100 corps members from more than 830 institutions joining the non-profit this year. They will be teaching in 52 regions across 36 states and the District of Columbia.

Since Teach for America was founded in 1990, more than 170 Holy Cross students have joined the highly-selective organization.

Marybeth Kearns-Barrett, director of the Office of the College Chaplains, explains that the high number of students engaging in these post-graduate service opportunities is a reflection of the emphasis Holy Cross places on considering how one’s abilities and passions can be put into service for the most vulnerable.

“The questions that begin our mission statement — like “what is the moral character of learning and teaching?” , or “what are our obligations to one another?” — are asked implicitly and explicitly in classrooms and residence halls, at Student Programs for Urban Development (SPUD) and Community-Based Learning (CBL) sites, on retreats and immersion trips, by athletic teams and in conversations with mentors across campus,” says Kearns-Barrett.

The 10 members of the class of 2015 joining Teach for America this year are among the 54 from the graduating class that have reported they are participating in a one to two year program servicing people in under-resourced communities across the U.S., as well as in Kenya, Tanzania and Ireland.

“Holy Cross has a great history of sending graduates into programs like Teach for America and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps,” says Kearns-Barrett. “One of the ways that we support students in thinking about these opportunities is by drawing attention to the fundamental connection emphasized in Jesuit education between faith and justice. Thus I believe many of our graduates choose these programs with a desire to live with purpose.”

For additional information, please contact Kelly Ethier at 508-793-2419.