HEOP’s 2024 3.0 brunch at Sprague’s Maple Farm
Photo courtesy of @sbuheop on Instagram
BY: DAVID SCIBILIA, FEATURES EDITOR
When Kiara Roque was searching for colleges, she was looking for a school that balanced both the quality of education and her checkbook.
The Higher Education Opportunity Program at St. Bonaventure University provided just that. In the form of additional financial aid, this grant allowed Roque — now a junior criminology major — to attend Bonaventure.
“I wouldn’t have attended Bonaventure without HEOP,” said Roque, a first-generation college student. “It’s really sad that the incoming class of freshmen won’t be able to have the same experience as me. It just feels bad. These are smart people who just happen to come from less fortunate backgrounds.”
Bonaventure’s HEOP has been halted due to what the university said was “an issue with the filing and renewal of our grant application to the state,” in a Feb. 14 Notice Board announcement.
“Quite simply, [it was a] human error,” said David Hilmey, the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “The person responsible for submitting the application missed the deadline.”
HEOP provides economic support to New York State residents who would otherwise be unable to attend a college or university. This comes in the form of a grant given to certain institutions; students must apply through the individual institution, not the state itself, said the HEOP website. Bonaventure’s grant was about half a million dollars, said Hilmey.
“We completely accept responsibility for the application mistake,” said Jeff Gingerich, the university president. “But the reality is, the people who will suffer most because of this are two dozen students who will be denied the opportunity to change the arc of their lives because of the experience they would have received here.”
Several students said without HEOP, they would not be attending Bonaventure today.
“If it wasn’t for [HEOP], I don’t think [I’d] be here,” said Jerchy Dilone, a senior criminology major. “Here, I have my HEOP community; I feel more at home knowing that there are students who may also feel the same way as me or have [had] similar experiences to me.”
Bonaventure has 63 students enrolled in the program — 31 of whom are Hispanic and 22 of whom are Black. 41 of these students are from the New York City boroughs, said Bernie Valento, the vice president for enrollment.
“Annually, our HEOP cohorts make up some of our most culturally and ethnically diverse students,” said Valento. “The absence of this program will likely impact the diversity of next year’s class.”
Several students agreed.
“I think the number of minority students will decrease just because there’s not a lot of incentive to come here [without HEOP],” said Roque.
Dilone voiced a similar concern.
“This is a predominantly white school, but it doesn’t mean that the absence of HEOP will affect the demographics of the incoming class,” said Dilone. “There can still be students coming in of different races or ethnicities even with the absence of the HEOP Program. [Without] HEOP, I don’t think there would be [as large of a] community representing students from different ethnicities.”
This change will only affect incoming students, said Hilmey.
“The students admitted into HEOP are guaranteed state and institutional aid for their entire college careers as long as they remain in good academic standing,” said Hilmey. “So the HEOP students here now will not lose financial or academic support.”
Despite this, some students said they wished the opportunity was still available.
“I know it won’t affect me,” said Roque. “But I wish others could experience what I have.”
The university received several hundred HEOP applications for the fall 2024 semester. However, the admissions office was just beginning the formal review process and no offers of acceptance were made, said Valento.
Roque and Dilone both said they made many great memories in the program.
“One of the amazing things HEOP does is called the 3.0 brunch,” said Dilone. “We usually go and eat at Sprague’s Maple Farms to celebrate students [who scored at or above a 3.0 GPA] for their achievements. Even some of the staff are present to celebrate with the students. It feels like a family; everyone comes together and we just have fun for the moment.”
Roque said the HEOP staff not only pushes students to succeed, but celebrates them when they do.
“It’s a community where you’re not only encouraged to do better, but when you do, you’re also celebrated,” said Roque. “Our HEOP staff — our tutors, our secretary, our advisers and everyone else are all very supportive and encouraging of all the students. They provide support not everyone gets at home.”
The half-million dollar grant was used to assist in the screening and testing of prospective students, provide counseling, tutoring, remedial/developmental coursework and supplemental financial and tuition assistance toward college expenses, said the HEOP website.
Hilmey said it came to his attention that the re-application was filed incorrectly during the first week of February.
“We contacted the state to see if there was any opportunity to still apply,” said Hilmey. “But when it became clear that wasn’t going to be allowed, we reached out to [current] HEOP students to assure them that their financial aid and services would not be affected at all through graduation from the university. Only after we informed them and the HEOP staff did we then inform the entire campus community.”
The university reached out to state Sen. George Borrello and state Assemblyman Joseph Giglio. They have since reached out to their colleagues to help regain funding, said Tom Missel, the university’s chief communications officer.
“President Gingerich has talked with the deputy commissioner of the Department of Education [and] met this week with representatives from Governor Hochul’s office,” said Missel. “Tom [Buttafarro — the university’s director of government and community relations] and Dr. Hilmey are scheduled to meet later this month with the Western New York delegation of state legislators, which was organized through the office of Crystal Peoples-Stokes, the Assembly majority leader.”
Although there is not any more money coming in, HEOP staff’s jobs will not be impacted, said Hilmey.
The university seeks to create an alternative program to attract students who rely on HEOP. Hilmey did not go into more detail about what this program may look like.
“[HEOP] is a great opportunity that should be shared and should be continued,” said Roque. “And it’s just so unfortunate that people won’t be able to experience it for the time being.”
scibild22@bonaventure.edu
