At Lawrence Tech, We Transform Lives

Hsiao-Ping Moore, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Lawrence Technological University

In many ways, Lawrence Technological University outshines what many knowledgeable observers would consider to be the top five American universities: the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Cal Tech. I took my Ph.D. from one of these and earned the rank of full professor at another.  Thus, I am more than ordinarily qualified to consider the subject of comparative institutional superiority.

There is no single ranking of universities, but there can be areas in which individual universities shine. In this essay, I will set forth one example of how Lawrence Tech shines:  Service to students. 

Ms. La Tasha Watkins is a young female, African-American, LTU Engineering student. In June, 2007, I accompanied her to a conference on diversity at Berkeley. Professor Kevin Kelch who is Director of the new LTU Scholars Program also traveled with us. As I am extremely well-acquainted with Berkeley, I took great pride in introducing La Tasha to this great university, different from the one that she knows.

At this conference, La Tasha and several other students from around the country served on a student panel to discuss “lessons learned” from various diversity programs on their respective campuses.  The Lawrence Tech Scholars program is partially supported by a 4-S grant from the state of Michigan’s King-Chavez-Parks (KCP) Initiative. The KCP Initiative is named in honor of civil rights pioneers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and Rosa Parks.  The Select Student Support Services or 4-S KCP program focuses on increasing retention and graduation rates among economically and academically disadvantaged students. Our Lawrence Tech Scholars program strives to create a supportive, interdependent group of students who share each other’s life goals.

During the conference, La Tasha had an opportunity to learn about diversity programs in many fine universities. Amongst the participating schools were:  University of California, Berkeley, University of California, San Diego, University of California, Riverside, Stanford University, University of Washington, Occidental College, Cal State University, City College of San Francisco, and Carlton College.

Both La Tasha and Professor Kelch did a great job in representing LTU.  At the end of the conference, I observed deans and professors from Stanford and UC San Diego giving La Tasha their business cards and encouraging her to think about them when it comes time for graduate school.  Needless to say, La Tasha was quite flattered, and I was proud.  It is clear to me that this was a great step forward in the life-transforming process for La Tasha.  It was also a great professional development experience for an outstanding faculty member like Kevin Kelch. 

As we at LTU continue the process of “transforming the lives” or our students, such as La Tasha, who visited California for the first time and as well experienced her first airplane flight, I am reminded of the words of Dr. Wayne H. Buell, third President of Lawrence Tech:  “Maybe others should study us rather than us study them.”  In my view, we are moving steadily towards the national recognition that we so richly deserve.