Changing lives: Wheels to Whitewater program gives prospective students a taste of the Warhawk experience

October 11, 2015

For many high school juniors and seniors, the college visit is a long-anticipated rite of passage. Two or three visits to universities across the state or across the country with the family are not uncommon.

But for some students — including first-generation and minority students and those who come from low-income families — barriers prevent them from stepping foot on campus for a tour.

It's a frustrating reality, especially for those students who've worked hard to get good grades and for campuses eager to help them attain their higher education dreams.

Since the mid-1980s, a UW-Whitewater program, Wheels to Whitewater (or Wheels as it is known) has partnered with more than ten Wisconsin high schools to identify and select underrepresented and often economically disadvantaged minority students in Milwaukee and the surrounding area who have the preparation and potential to attend and graduate from college.

These students are provided with free transportation to visit the campus to learn about the admissions process, financial aid, academic support and advising, and participate in an interactive panel composed of current UW-Whitewater students from groups such as the Black Student Union, Latinos Unidos and the Southeast Asian Organization.

Rob Gambsky, assistant director of admissions, has been coordinating the Wheels to Whitewater program since 1997. He sees firsthand how vital the campus tour is to the high schoolers.

"It's the most effective thing we can do," Gambsky said. "For many of them, it's the first time they've been on a college campus and they'll go home now and talk about it."

More than 400 students participate in the program each year, and typically, 30 to 50 percent of Wheels participants who are admitted end up enrolling at UW-Whitewater. It has helped to bring first-year minority-student enrollment up from 160 in 2006 to 344 in 2015. Academically, composite ACT scores went from 18.8 to 21.0.

Because of the success of Wheels and the university's commitment to multicultural diversity, the Wisconsin State Council on Affirmative Action will present UW-Whitewater with the 2015 Ann Lydecker Diversity Educational Award. A ceremony will take place at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, in the Senate Parlor of the State Capitol in Madison.

Gambsky said the award is shared with everyone who is involved with students on campus. "UW-Whitewater is unique," he said. "From the chancellor on down, we have always been student focused."

"I enjoy doing this," Gambsky said. "It's the best part of my job. But what really clinches it is the panel of current (UW-Whitewater) students. I hear it all the time from the high school counselors. They're the most informed and the best at answering the high schoolers' questions."

One panelist, Antwanette Bounds, a junior mathematics education major, was once a participant in the Wheels program as a Milwaukee Riverside High School student.

"It helped me get a feel for the campus climate," she said. "I got to hear about it from people who looked like me. I got to see for myself what it really is, versus hearing it from someone else," she said.