No white males. Coincidence I’m sure.
For those who are concerned about a lack of white males and the fact that males are in the minority here, why is it too hard to assume that this is just the way it worked out this year and not that there is discrimination in the selection process? Maybe there were more boys last year or there might be next year. This is just who won this year. Congratulations to all.
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Congratulations to all of you!
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Congratulations to all the winners.
May you all have a bright, bright, future.
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Are you really trying to tell me that there wasn't one white male teenager who qualified for this award? Say, for instance, a kid whose opioid-addicted mother left him to pretty much fend for himself his whole childhood like the hundreds my wife has seen in her career as a DCFS social worker?
If you want to create some more Trump voters, just make sure that middle class white kids with 1400+ SAT scores don't gain admission to elite universities while black kids with those same scores are pretty much guaranteed a spot.
I live in Southwestern Illinois and see white kids everyday who belong in that picture and wonder who at your paper is so blind they didn't notice this obvious injustice.
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@Dadalaz I think it's really great that you are concerned for students in Illinois. There are many scholarships for Illinois students, and if you see a lack among them, you could work with local civic organizations to found one. I bet NYTimes readers would be generous if you were able to do this and publicize it.
The scholarship in this article is "designed to reward New York City high school students". That is why there are no students from Illinois featured.
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How do I donate?
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Why do you fail to say where these kids went to school???
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NY Times journalists: where do these students attend high school? The story feels incomplete without that information.
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Not very diverse -- no white men.
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Not a single white male child. Interesting.
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Congratulations to all these scholarship winners!
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How encouraging to see the wonderful diversity of the winners here. They look like America, they look like democracy, and they certainly look like the future.
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Thank you New York Times for doing this for so many struggling and very impressive young people who have managed to overcome the odds.
But isn't this really the story of the success of our country? Cynics may say this is a myth, but now a retired professor, every semester I had students like this in classes who were going into the medicine and health care. I would say that when we heard their stories, their resilience, upbeat attitude, and hard work inspired everyone in the class.
And yet, Trump and the GOP are doing all they can to obstruct and block any opportunities for such kids--most especially the children of immigrants and the Dreamers.
How many of us come from poor backgrounds, immigrant heritage, or have immigrants in our families who had nothing to start with but became highly successful--I don't mean made a lot of money; I mean contributed to their fields and made wherever they were a better place.
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God bless each of them and the NYT for doing this.
May the mentors provided, integrate deeply into the lives of these remarkable young men and women and help provide perspective and guidance that allows them to continue to thrive and grow, regardless of blocks.
Hopefully NYT mentors seek frank feedback and rigorously evaluate themselves with regard to their impact, strategies and approaches?
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I’ve taught community college history for 40 years. Students can do amazing things if given the space and encouragement. I’ve had students come back to my school as academic counselors and two are my history colleagues. We need to invest in these young people, not just financially but with a nurturing spirit.
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God bless! do well!
I am rooting for you with love!
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This article highlighting these amazing students deserves a much more prominent placement in the paper-Perhaps in the Opinion Section.The story is remarkable because the New York Times sponsors these students and because these young achievers are such an inspiration to everyone.What other newspaper so faithfully reports the news but also,cares that young people,will become educated consumers of the news and maybe someday will be making news with their unique contributions.This is a great and heart warming piece of news tucked into stories of graft and corruption.
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Congrats to all the diversified students to earn the scholarship, we are so very proud of all of you.
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These are examples of the wonderful treasures of our city. We must protect and nurture them!
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My first Christmas in the US, December 1989, I walked the streets with my best friends. Some kids were throwing pennies from the window and laughing at us as we collected from the snow with our bare hands. We got exactly 75 cents and this allowed us to buy 3 small bags of potato chips at the grocery. Fast forward 30 years later, I am making nice six figures, she is also living a comfortable life, and we are still best friends. Education was our ticket out of poverty and we both worked all throughout college to pay our part of our tuition. It's awesome to see the new generation of smart and hard-working kids who understand that things are not handed to them on a silver platter. I am faced with a different challenge now-how do I motivate my own kids who, although, not spoiled, have been growing up rather comfortably?
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@babysladkaya
Give them this article to read. There could hardly be a more heartwarming and inspiring way to learn to work at school and ignore the distractions; leave the beer to the Kavanaugh types - let them drink themselves stupid - these kids should just focus on their futures. Brilliant kids! brilliant article! and Kudos to the NYT for their sponsorships. I am delighted to read this.
Trump - if you are reading this, please do the right thing. If you can read, that is.
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Next year, NYT sponsor an aspiring novelist, or a poet - we need our Humanities majors thinking outside the box now more than ever.
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This is wonderful to read, inspiring and deeply moving to learn that these young people are the future leaders in this country. Whether they fulfill their dreams remains to be seen. Who knows the extent of their reach, as they touch the lives of others, whether by example (being seen and known), through recognition (being seen and known), or by paying it forward (seeing and knowing others).
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That's my nephew on the far right. Jaylen Campbell. The article doesn't say enough about him. Very smart young man. Attends Brooklyn Tech, like I did. Speaks fluent Chinese. In his freshman year I advised him to join a club for extracurricular activities to list on college apps. Little dude joined 6 clubs instead, from science to auto mechanics..and decided to tutor.
Pulled at my heart seeing him with huge plastic bag of bottles on the train. Dude didn't care what other kids thought. Last month he was collecting a stranger gave him 200 bucs. Concerned, his mom (my sis) went looking for the stranger. Turned out it was a store owner who regularly spots Jay dutifully collecting and wanted to help out.
Jay has apps in for 10 schools. They include MIT, Cal Berkeley, Dartmouth and others. Temple has already offered 4 year ride.
His hard work is paying off but he knows it's also just beginning. Great kid. I wish him the best and will always offer the shirt off my back.
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@Ryder Congratulations to Jaylen. Wow, a full ride to Temple University is an ace up his sleeve. Go Jaylen!!!
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@Ryder Brought tears to my eyes. Guessing he knows how proud you are?
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Thank you for sharing! We are all rooting for Jaylen!
- From a fellow Tech alumni
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congratulations to all these students not just for winning this scholarship, but for managing their lives so successfully and with determination in the face of heartbreaking hardships.
i do think it's fair to ask the NYT why only two out of the ten students are boys. 20 percent.
many readers might think that question is laughable, or a joke. it is neither.
but that reaction would be part of the problem.
for some years now it has been a fact that girls finish high school in higher numbers than boys. same for college. in addition, girls perform better in both, as well. (i believe this trend holds for grad school, too.)
and by “some years”, i mean over 3 decades. girls apparently surpassed boys in the mid-EIGHTIES.
https://ed.lehigh.edu/theory-to-practice/2013/the-reverse-gender-gap
today women earn one-third more bachelor’s degrees than men.
yet we constantly hear how it's so urgent that we help girls succeed. there are so many efforts directed at this: conferences, organizations, speakers, books, articles, magazines, initiatives, programs.
for boys, it’s pretty much crickets, but maybe that’s because they’re “winning” in other categories—like failing school, suicide and prison.
as the father of a daughter in 4th grade, i feel a bit lucky that she was born a girl in today’s world.
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@josh f I, too, noticed there were only 2 boys. That's because I have 2 sons. I'm happy for your daughter that things have changed since I went to college. I was the first in my family to go, and I had to fight hard for it; work while I went to night school and then take out loans to go to a middle-ranked institution full-time. This was back in the day, when most boys in my neighborhood went into the military after high school and most girls got married. My older son has an Ivy League PhD and my younger son has an MFA. I don't believe they would have gone on to higher education if I hadn't gone first. You and I can continue to worry about the futures of young men of color, but meanwhile, be happy for your daughter that women have made such significant advances!
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@josh f IMHO, I hope the scholarships were gender, race and ethnicity neutral.
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@josh
Women were barred from higher education for centuries. No one thought that was a problem. Now that women are earning more degrees than men, we have a problem? And, believe me, being a white male still puts you at the top of the heap. Just ask Paul Manafort.
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I am beyond humbled by these young, powerful individuals who are striving to make a difference in the world. Thank you New York Times for shedding light on these students. Despite their dark times, it is truly admirable to see their lights that continue to shine.
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Thank you for this news. Congratulations to these winners! What an incredible program that will change the lives of these students.
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Congratulations to all the incredible winners! And a very big thank you to The New York Times for providing these scholarships.
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Thank you New York Times for supporting these incredible young people who are the future of our country. Reading this article made my day, week, year! Hopeful that the future will be brighter with these talented students who have defied the odds to achieve their well-deserved success. I'm rooting for them all!
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I applaud NYT for this scholarship program. This gives me hope in today’s Trump era
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Thank you NYT for creating such a worthwhile scholarship program and for including such a diversified group of winners.
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"Homelessness, poverty and abuse" these students overcame. What in their lives allowed persevering rather than despair? That is the MORE important article. Your paper reported that 33,000 NYC students were homeless in the 2015-16 school year (link below). The Urban Institute reports that 10 percent of children in the United States suffer persistent poverty. For minority children it closer to 40 percent (link below).
Until we address the impact of poverty on millions of students academic achievement, we will have these wonderful winners, but, alas, millions who are lost.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/nyregion/homeless-students-in-new-york-city.html
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/65766/2000369-Child-Poverty-and-Adult-Success.pdf
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Congratulations to all the talented and hardworking students who have succeeded in spite of the all the hardships they face. I am so proud of them !
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I am in AWE of them. I can only wonder whether I would have had the courage and devotion to overcome the obstacles.
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I am so pleased to have read about these young students who have prevailed despite all the obstacles they've faced and will face in the future. I hope that the colleges and universities in which they are enrolled realize who they are and will also offer them scholarships so that they won't need to take out student loans and, thus, be in debt when they graduate. Congratulations to each one of them, and thank you, NY Times!
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God bless these wonderful young students who overcame such incredible adversity and hardships. They are truly remarkable and a much needed source of hope and inspiration for all of our futures ...
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Congratulations to all these young people. Their stories make a great counterbalance to most of today's front page headlines.
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Very uplifting stories of these very fine kids who have done remarkably well and deserve full credit for their perseverance. Congratulations and may the future be bright for you.
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Very impressive young people, and a wonderful initiative. I would love to see which high schools the scholarship winners attended.
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Thank you NYT for sponsoring these scholarships. Such inspiring young people. I just made a donation and I encourage everyone who was as moved by the article to donate as well.
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Congratulations to all the winners. They are clearly well deserved! However, I am taken back by the lack of gender diversity. This is reflecting an overall problem of male college attainment which is a problem that needs to be addressed.
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@Common Sense I'd prefer to keep my focus on the focus of this article, ten exceptional young people who have accomplished so much despite the odds they have faced and still face. This program, thank you NYT, might just even the playing field a bit and give them the support my son and his friends were born with.
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@justme
I, too, was struck by the lack of gender diversity. Just because an article focuses on ten laudable individuals does not mean readers cannot or should not comment on side issues the article might raise in their minds.
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@justme
i'm pretty sure that if it were 8 boys and 2 girls, the majority of comments here would be focused on criticizing that.
and the playing field is not even. girls have much more support, and success, than boys.
that is a fact, and has been true for many years now.
google it.
https://ed.lehigh.edu/theory-to-practice/2013/the-reverse-gender-gap
the fact that people are still talking about "leveling the playing field" in the now-wrong direction indicates we are in for a troubling future as so many boys are falling behind or falling through the cracks.
(and my child is a girl, btw.)
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I am filled with respect and admiration for these young people who have already faced such daunting obstacles and have, despite them, done so well. I cheer them on and wish them well in their college careers and beyond. What wonderful examples they are for youth everywhere.
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Such great stories. Can we see a list of the young adult novels they found inspiring?
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This story made my day. More then just an "up from the bottom" tale, theirs is a story of sacrifice, hard work, effort, going the extra mile, and not letting lifes travails derail them. I'm super proud of each and every one of you, and I wish you all the best in life and your endeavors. Go get 'em! :-)
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Reading this brought a huge smile to my face. Congratulations to each of you. You have accomplished so much in your lives already. All the best!
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As an educator in New York City, my greatest challenge with these particular students, would be pronouncing their names correctly! Very few John or Mary's anymore! They deserve our admiration!!!
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@Counter Measures To give you the benefit of the doubt, you do praise these students but your comment regarding pronouncing their names is off-putting. Maybe you mean that?
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@Counter Measures "John and Mary ?" Do you mean to say you find there are not enough Christians represented ? If you are an educator in a confessional school I would urge you to advise your students who may need it to apply too... Please don't let yourself be challenged by names you don't know though, as it would not be very christian thing to do...
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@Counter Measures
I think, despite the previous comments that you simply meant to point out the diversity of the group which should be applauded. Its not all about privilege anymore, but more about hard work!
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Congratulations to these outstanding young people. Certainly the best and the brightest of the upcoming generation !!
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Fabulous. Thank you to the New York Times for providing support to these inspiring young men and women. I wish them all the best.
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