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Hamilton College has been awarded a five-year $3,159,044 grant from the New York State Department of Education to support its Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP). It is the largest HEOP grant the College has ever received.

Bronx native Rogelio Ramirez Pacheco ’27 gives new meaning to “walking a mile in his shoes” with the release of the Air Jordan I Mid Subway — a special Nike shoe designed by the Hamilton College first-year and a fellow New York student.

Members of Hamilton’s Class of 2024 have walked off the Commencement stage, canes in hand, and out into the world ready to make a difference.

For Anusha Karki ’24, communities are intricate layers of people, resources, opportunities, and identities. For migrant domestic workers, these communities are essential to creating new lives in new lands. Yet the tireless childcare, caregiving, and other household responsibilities they provide behind closed doors often go unrecognized, as do their stories.

Hamilton is among several New York State colleges that administer the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program, known on the Hill as simply “the Opportunity Program” or just “OP.” The Opportunity Program, designed to support students whose transition from high school to college may be made more difficult by their educational, socioeconomic, or personal circumstances, helps 30 to 40 new students each year acclimate to the College’s academic standards and social life.

Brenda Davis, associate director of Opportunity Programs, was recently awarded the Arthur O. Eve Human Relations Award at the Higher Education Opportunity Program Professional Organization (HEOP-PO) conference in Buffalo. This award is given to an individual who “champions the issues of inclusion, access, and success while making post-secondary opportunities available to historically underrepresented students through their efforts at their institution and through their advocacy at the state level.”

In further (happy) evidence that life has returned to normal on College Hill, the first influx of accepted members of the Class of 2025 has arrived. The 42 students, who are part of the College’s Opportunity Programs, are spending five jam-packed weeks getting introduced to Hamilton’s academic rigor and, with support, building a personalized foundation for success.

At last Saturday’s Commencement, Diamond Jackson’s ’21 four busy years at Hamilton came to an end. She served as the chair of the C. Christine Johnson Voices of Color Lecture Series, co-president of the Black & Latinx Student Union, supervisor at the Academic Center for Excellence (ACE), HEOP summer residential assistant, and as a student researcher, completing Emerson, Kirkland, and Levitt Center projects.

President David Wippman announced the Beverly S. and Eugene M. Tobin Employee Award recipients, and the Wertimer-Couper Award winner at the May 5 virtual Staff Assembly.

New Director of Opportunity Programs Aaron Ray credits his grandmother, Vena Ray, as the inspiration for everything he does.