Quant School for the Summer!

Hey folks,

We did it.  You, you, you, and you over there did it...with me.  

Yes, I changed the goal amount.  But that is only to reflect the fact that Go Fund Me takes 8% of the amount for "processing fees".  :-(

However, even if I don't raise another dime, I have been moved by this experience in an immeasurable way.  In less than 1 month I was able to raise $5,000!  And for those that could not help financially, you lifted me spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.  With such an uncertain endeavor, that kind of uplift was needed as much as the funding.

Friends, family, fraternity brothers, and complete strangers have invested in me.  That's right, "invested".  An investment implies a return.  I plan to "return" the investment to OUR COMMUNITY in ways that money cannot fully capture.

I originally starting typing the first draft of this while at the American Educational Research Association conference, reflecting on some things I've learned/confirmed as a native Detroiter and PhD student.

Below are three of those things:

1)Most of our country is increasingly poor and comprised of people of color. Most of those that create the education policies that we live by were never poor and are not people of color.

2)We need more academic activists and creative problem-solvers! Many of our problems are NOT NEW, but are variations on very old themes:that continue to hurt us, a lot.

3)The skills you need to articulate, analyze, and answer the important questions are like common sense: not common enough. I want to continue to be part of the solution.

For over a half century the Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research, at the University of Michigan, has been training scholars in social science research methodologies and technologies. The skills you gain cannot be overestimated.

I will be there this summer...because of YOU!

Humbly submitted,

Gregory J. White (Future PhD)