A summer immersion program targeting minority, first-generation students is attempting to improve retention and graduation rates.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier reports:

Wabash College gives minority students ‘head start’

While driving around Crawfordsville during a recent visit to Wabash College, Byshup Rhodes noticed the Confederate flags hoisted above porches and displayed in windows.

“You see the Confederate flags,” said the African-American incoming freshman. “There’s a little apprehension. … Sometimes, people who support the flag have negative (views) of (African-Americans).”

But a new summer program at the college has laid those feelings of uneasiness to rest.

Rhodes is one of 30 students involved in the Wabash Liberal Arts Immersion Program. The program, funded by an $800,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, aims to improve retention and graduation rates for underrepresented minority and first-generation college students, or students whose parents lack college experience.

The program is important given a survey conducted about 10 years ago that found minority students have a less favorable experience when studying at Wabash, which is predominantly white, said Robert Horton, a professor of psychology and program director.