Gonzaga Roots, Lifelong Impact: Higher Achievement Turns 50

This fall, Higher Achievement will celebrate its 50th anniversary—a milestone that traces its roots back to Gonzaga in 1975. Launched on Eye Street to address disparities in education for inner city youth, the program featured a seven-week summer program in Kohlmann Hall for middle school students as well as sports and field trips. Four evenings a week during the school year, there were two 45-minute tutoring sessions in math and reading in Cantwell Hall, taught by volunteers who were Gonzaga teachers, students, and alumni, Capitol Hill staffers, and others from all walks of life.

Gonzaga English teacher Greg Gannon, who passed away in 2006, was the Director of HAP from the start. Gannon made it his life’s work to ensure that HAP students would have the tools they needed to excel in high school and thereafter. Today, HAP operates in 12 schools across DC, Baltimore, Prince Georges County, and Richmond. The organization has been nationally recognized for its strong third-party evaluation results, and its graduates are three times more likely than their peers to graduate from college.

 

HAP and its impact is deeply tied to Gonzaga – many former teachers and students volunteered for the program, including Father Joe Lingan, S.J. '75, now Gonzaga's President, Joe Dempsey (P ’05, ’08, ’12), former Gonzaga Dean of Students, and Mike Curtin ’82, who now runs DC Central Kitchen. In addition, many accomplished Gonzaga alumni are also HAP alumni, such as  Roman Oben ’90, William Simmons ’87, Leonard Moore ’91, Roger Briscoe ’76, Charles View ’07, Kristian Smith ’09, and Mitch Brooks ’02. 

On November 5th, Higher Achievement will gather these supporters and many more to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Congratulations to all who have carried forward this remarkable mission of opportunity and service over the past half century.