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INSTITUTIONAL GRANTSCollege receives third TRIO grantBy Kristen MartinezPublic Relations OfficeCowley received its third federalTrio grant last year in the UpwardBound program.Upward Bound is part of a fouryear,$800,000 grant to provideintensive services to juniors and seniorsin high school. Career development,tutoring, college preparatoryskills, and much more will beoffered.The heart of the program is tohelp potentially successful studentswho are at-risk for not going to collegego to college because of disability,low income, etc. According toConnie Bonfy, director of institutionalgrants, Cowley's goal is toprovide the tools necessary for studentsto become more successful,improve their grade-point average.complete high school, and attendpost-secondary schooling.This program offers life skills,not just remediation. Summer camp,cultural events, visits to a variety ofcampuses, special speakers, andother events that these studentswould not otherwise have the opportunityto participate in will be available.According to Maggie Picking,vice president of student affairs, hiringof staff was to take place in earlyfall1999. Before hiring of staff canbegin, Cowley will have an opportunityto revise its objectives and personnel,because it did not receive theexact amount of funding it requested.Upward Bound was expected tobegin sometime during the fall 1999semester. Students may be enrolledBriefly Speakingby mid-year, Picking said.Upward Bound has the capacityto enroll between 40 and 50 students.Selection of students isbased uponobjective criteria that includesgrades, financial need, and participationfrom siblings in other Trio grantprograms. Interviews and moreextensive work willthe initial phase.take place afterThe first of the Trio grantsCowley received was StudentSupport Services, which is the college'sCollege Access, Retention andExcellence program. The secondgrant funded was Talent Search,which enrolls 600 students. The 40or 50 students that enroll in UpwardBound will have the same amount offunding available to them as the 600Talent Search students, so the programwill be more intensive.Alvin Ailey, 'Christmas Carol,'Three Dog Night entertainLegendary rock group "Three Dog Night," theNebraska Theatre Caravan's "A Christmas Carol,"andthe renowned Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble highlightedthe1998-99 cultural arts offerings at the college.Three Dog Night, one of the hottest rock bands ofthe late 1960s and early '70s, entertained on Oct. 31,1998, in W.S. Scott Auditorium before a packed house.The Nebraska Theatre Caravan performed 'AChristmas Carol" before a sold-out audience in theRobert A. Brown Theatre on Dec. 1, 1998.The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble performed inthe Robert Brown Theatre on April 20, 1999. The performancewas part of Cowley's Heartland Arts Series.The Ailey Ensemble is well-known throughout theworld for innovative American dance. The Ensemble wascreated in 1974 by Mr. Ailey to help the most talentedstudents in the Ailey school make the leap fromstudio to stage. It is considered one of the most outstandingcomponents of the Alvin Ailey American DanceCenter.The 1999 tour and New York season will highlighta company premier: "Nightscape," an evocative andgraceful work that captures the beauty of a bird's life.The Repertory Ensemble features a diverse selectionof works by distinctive artists, ranging from Chinesechoreographer, Shen Wei's highly theatrical "LastMontage" to Tony Award winner Lar Lubovitch' hypnoticand rigorous "Marimba." The company also performeda major Ailey work called "Escapades," a lovestory set to a score by jazz legend. Max Roach.Since its inception, the Ensemble has won criticalpraise for its national tours and residencies at major universities.Jennifer Dunning of the New York Timesdescribe their performance this way, "By now the vibrancyand accomplished dancing of the Alvin AileyRepertory Ensemble should come as no surprise.But thethe group outdid itself in a performance that stood out forits artistry and sophistication."In addition to the full performance April 20, theRepertory Ensemble gave a free school show for USD470 students and to young area dancers on April 19.The Ailey performance residency was sponsored byMid-America Arts Alliance, which is a nonprofit regionalarts organization assisted by the National Endowmentfor the Arts, its six partner state agencies and private contributions.The Heartland Arts Series also is underwrittenby the Home National Bank and the Kansas ArtsCommission, a state agency.