Lewis University hosts ‘Fulfilling the Dream’ Conference in Romeoville

Nathaniel Scott had a solid reason for attending the “Fulfilling the Dream” high school conference Saturday at Lewis University in Romeoville.

“I want to learn as much as I can [about college],” said Scott, a senior at Providence-St. Mel High School in Chicago.

Lewis University started its annual “Fulfilling the Dream” high school conference in 2005, said Diana Roman, the university’s coordinator for student and multicultural engagement. The conference’s purpose is to “motivate African American high school students to enroll into higher education,” according to the Lewis University website.

Roman said Lewis University’s admissions department sends invitations to the conference to high schools within a 30- to 50-mile radius.

The conference, often on a weekday, typically attracted 200 high school students before the COVID-19 pandemic, Roman said.

“The biggest goal with this conference is that there are these different people ready to get all hands on deck to support them and help them be successful,” Roman said.

Avyn Harris, a junior at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, said she wanted to learn about new opportunities.

Nia Ogoke, a senior at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, felt Black History Month was a good time to seek information.

“I want to learn as much as I can,” Ogoke said.

There are Black faculty on campus and Black staff on campus who are more than ready and more than willing to support and mentor these students.”

—  Diana Roman, coordinator for student and multicultural engagement at Lewis University in Romeoville

This year, Lewis University held the conference on a Saturday so parents could attend, too, Roman said. What sets this event apart from high school college nights is that students and parents attend the actual university instead of only talking with representatives.

“A lot of them come from different communities, where they see other Black students, Black teachers and Black administration,” Roman said. “And then they get here, where the facility is primarily white [and] a lot of staff is also white. It’s a huge culture shock.”

Roman said students might mistakenly think they have no representation or mentoring at Lewis University. That’s simply not the case.

“Obviously, the percentage [of Black students] is not as high as it should be,” Roman said. “But there are Black faculty on campus and Black staff on campus who are more than ready and more than willing to support and mentor these students.”

After registration and a continental breakfast, students and parents participated in several workshops. The first was led by Lewis University graduate and author Leonard McKinnis, assistant professor of African American religions and Black studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

McKinnis talked about the importance of consequential experiences, or experiences that matter and have a profound effect on people’s lives.

He discussed the power of the imagination, “which breaks open the endless possibility that anything can happen,” he said.

“Imagination is the vision of that which has not yet happened,” McKinnis said, later adding that “imagination is not constrained by what we see. ... Imagination refuses to surrender. ... Imagination allows you to build other worlds and futures.”

McKinnis stressed that imagination must be followed up with action. It also “needs the performance to make imagination possible,” he said.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was successful because “he dreamed and he did it.”

“Make those dreams a reality in your life,” McKinnis said.

Other workshops provided information on the admission process, financial aid and possible career paths, Roman said. This was some of the information Victoria Roberts, a junior at Kenwood Academy High School in Chicago who wants to study criminal justice, and her mother, Gloria Roberts, were seeking.

Gloria said Victoria wants to be a lawyer and eventually a judge, and she was invited to attend the conference based on her high GPA.

“We heard Lewis University had one of the best programs for criminal justice,” Gloria said.

Victoria said she also wanted to feel more connected with the university and “learn about the different accomplishments of people before I go off to college.”

In addition, members of the Black Student Union discussed their experiences and how new students can find community at Lewis University.

That last workshop was intended to dispel any feelings that Black students “don’t belong” at Lewis University, Roman said.

It wasn’t only students and parents who attended the conference.

Brandon Reynolds of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago said he attended to support a student he is mentoring in climate research at the Argonne National Laboratory.