Stony Brook Future Scholars Program Empowers Pre-College Students on the East End

SBU undergraduate students supported the Stony Brook Future Scholars Program Welcome Celebration in October at Stony Brook Southampton. Photo by John Griffin.

As a first-generation student, Stephanie Nuñez is thankful that her parents, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic when she was six, supported her and encouraged her to take advantage of opportunities that they never had.

"My parents are my number one motivators," she said. "Even though they didn't get the opportunity to go to college, let alone finish high school, they were the ones that were always motivating me and my sisters to push forward and accomplish our goals."

Now, as director of the Stony Brook Future Scholars Program, Nuñez is working to offer that same encouragement to Long Island students.

The Stony Brook Future Scholars Program is a five-year pre-college, long-term initiative program designed to support students from middle school through college. It empowers students through a holistic approach that combines academic support, personal development and community engagement.

"We work with five school districts from the East End, and our goal is to support and engage these students so that they can graduate from high school and either go to college or have a post-secondary plan ready after they graduate high school," she said. "We're trying to reach them at an early stage."

Stony Brook Future Scholars Director Stephanie Nuñez addresses students in the Avram Theater at Stony Brook Southampton.

The five East End school districts are Riverhead Central School District, Bridgehampton Union Free School District, Tuckahoe Common School District, Southampton Union Free School District and Hampton Bays Union Free School District.

Through the program, Stony Brook team members - including staff, faculty and student volunteers - meet with students who come to the Stony Brook Southampton campus one Saturday a month, offering different types of programming to meet their needs. There are 100 students in the current cohort.

Nuñez said the first program, which took place in October, was a welcome celebration that included students and their families, community leaders and Stony Brook representatives to welcome them and introduce them to the program.

"Subsequent sessions focused on providing information about the program and how we can support them," said Nuñez. "In all the sessions that we host, the students have an opportunity to meet peers that don't attend their current school. We do lots of community building activities and ice breakers. The activities we host are designed to help build trust with the students among one another, as well as with staff."

The program is rooted in proven models like Rutgers Future Scholars and GEAR UP, which offers mentorship, academic enrichment and college readiness resources to help students thrive.

"Rutgers has been doing this for the past 16 years, and they've served more than 3,500 students," said Nuñez. "Their high school graduation rate is 98 percent, and holds a steady 81 percent college enrollment rate. Many of the Future Scholars enroll at Rutgers University and eventually return to work full-time in the college access program because it was so impactful for them. I would love to find a way to get our students invested in that same way."

Nuñez, who took part in a similar program as an undergrad at SUNY New Paltz, said she's always been a strong advocate for education and developing students and giving opportunities to everybody that needs them.

"I'm super-passionate about creating pathways for all students and being a motivator or cheerleader who empowers them," she said. "Having somebody that hears you, sees you, empowers you and believes in you can be life changing."

Nuñez wants help guide student through these developmental years and create a space where they feel like they can achieve their goals, gain confidence, and develop social, emotional and learning skills as well as a sense of belonging.

"You'd be more comfortable going to a university if you've already been there and participated in lectures and have met the faculty and staff," she said. "We want them to be able to imagine themselves being in a collegiate environment, whatever that could mean to them. Maybe they want to go to trade school or pursue entrepreneurship. Exposing them to those outlets early on can really make a difference."

The early returns have been rewarding.

"What I really enjoy about the program is that these students are showing up on a Saturday after they've had a long week of school," said Nuñez. "They could be anywhere else, but they choose to join us at our Southampton campus because they are eager to learn what going to college looks and feels like. They are eager to engage and interact with other scholars. It gives me a sense of joy to be able to be there to show them that they matter, that they are welcome in this community, and that they, too, can one day be in the same shoes as the people helping them through this program."

- Robert Emproto