SPRINGFIELD — In an effort to recruit and retain more black students at Drury University, the school has invited 50 black teenagers to eat, live and learn on the college campus for a week.
Springfield students from the seventh to the 10th grade will participate in the Drury University Summer Scholars program this week.
Peter Meidlinger, a professor who helped start the program, said it is designed to reach out to young black students in communities near the university who may not have the opportunity to experience college.
In Missouri, blacks make up about 11.5 percent of the population. But at Drury, the total population of all minorities is only about 6 percent.