When Lipscomb’s new IDEAL (Igniting the Dream of Education and Access at Lipscomb) program was launched in January 2014, just three students were enrolled. And those three students received their career exploration studies certificates Thursday afternoon in Swang in the inaugural IDEAL commencement ceremony.
IDEAL is a two-year certificate program for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Students in the program attend academic and skill-building classes, work daily internships and hang out with peer mentors and the student body.
The three IDEAL students A.T. Banks, Rashaad Harrell and Matthew Loveland paved the way for the program, which now has 19 students.
“The IDEAL program and especially these three boys play a huge role in our college experience. They are a joy to have on campus,” said Chandler Cooper, senior business major and IDEAL program peer mentor.
IDEAL program director Mallory Whitmore said when she first started, she was handed a binder full of paper and given about four months to build the program from scratch.
“Sometimes I felt like I was being asked to cut down a forest with a butter knife– there was a lot to do in a very short amount of time to pave the way for this program to be successful,” Whitmore said. “It’s nice to take a step back today and look at how much we’ve accomplished in such a short period of time.”
Peer mentor Cooper said the IDEAL program has changed Lipscomb’s campus, and most specifically in the student center, where most of the IDEAL students spend their free time.
“When they first started on campus no one knew what the IDEAL program was,” Cooper said. “But that lasted for about two weeks, because in the student center there was just a different feel.
“You would walk in and Matthew [Loveland] would have free time doing karate in the corner. A.T. [Banks] would be eating Far East Fusion and trying to find an outlet to get that phone to 100 percent. Rashaad [Harrell] would never take off his backpack that weighed more than he did.”
Most recently, the program received a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education through its Model Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) initiative.
Lipscomb was one of 25 universities in the nation to receive a TPSID. With the grant, Lipscomb will welcome three new full-time staff members in January and create more partnerships with local school districts and communities.
The program will also extend to include a third year, which will add job training experience in partnership with Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee.
Photos by author