This fall, Lewis & Clark’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) welcomed its first group of Posse scholars to campus. The students are members of the Posse Foundation’s program to educate and train leaders of the 21st century.
Founded in 1989, Posse has more recently garnered attention after receiving a portion of President Barack Obama’s $1.4 million Nobel Prize grant. In the spring of 2021, LC announced a five-year partnership with the foundation. That means four more cohorts of Posse students will arrive at LC every fall term from 2022-2025. In all, LC will be home to 50 Posse students in the coming years.
According to the Posse website, the program “is rooted in the belief that a small, diverse group of talented students — a Posse — carefully selected and trained, can serve as a catalyst for individual and community development.” The foundation believes that for our nation to enter a promising future, the leaders of that future must come from diverse backgrounds and be able to collaborate and reach a consensus on solutions to complex social issues.
Wesley Esparza Salazar, ’25, and Sania Starnes, ’25, are two of 10 current Posse scholars at LC. Salazar is a biology major from Arlington, Virginia who said the pre-college interview process was nerve-wracking. His first interview, held on Zoom, had over 1,000 participants.
Still, Salazar felt confident enough that he applied to no other schools or programs. He described it as manifestation, knowing he was the kind of student they wanted. Starnes grew up in Springfield, Virginia, and is also considering a biology major. She was nominated to the Foundation by an older Posse recipient on her swim team.
Posse’s selection procedure, the Dynamic Assessment Process, is different from the average admissions process. According to the website, the Dynamic Assessment Process, “is a unique evaluation method designed to find young leaders that may be missed by traditional admissions criteria but can still excel at selective colleges and universities.”
Salazar discussed the problems with traditional admissions criteria in the higher education system, specifically the financial barriers, but he maintains that Posse is not aimed solely towards underprivileged students, rather, it is about mitigating the money factor.
“Anyone can get Posse,” Salazar said. “It’s not aimed at kids who struggled in high school, or minorities, I think the point of Posse saying that is to make them realize everything’s not about money, that it’s about the students who can actually make a difference in the world.”
Similarly, Starnes felt that her experience with the Posse admissions process highlighted her potential as a student. Beyond simply looking at grades, the interviews brought to light
aspects of her life and personality that were otherwise overlooked in regular admissions.
Starnes explains how she hopes that Posse will diversify campus as members and leaders of the community, for example, they plan to join clubs that are not often dominated by people of color.
“I went to the Wallowas and there were three other new student trips going with mine, and I was the only black person not only in mine, but in all of them,” Starnes said, “and that’s when I was like, woah, this is how it’s going to be.”
Beyond their mission with Posse, Salazar and Starnes both expressed their excitement about being at LC.
“I love the campus a lot, and making new friends,” Starnes said. “I started being a part of College Outdoors, which is really exciting.”
The Posse Foundation’s training extends beyond undergraduate education, supporting its scholars through career training, internships, and graduate programs. Their mission of establishing the leaders of the future is a process that spans college and the careers beyond. Salazar pointed out that a leader does not necessarily mean someone curing cancer tomorrow or waking up one day and ending racism — a leader is a person who is there for others and makes a difference in someone’s life.
“It’s not just about me being a leader, it’s about helping others become leaders,” Salazar said. “And you’re a leader even when nobody is looking at you.”
Photograph Courtesy of Posse Foundation
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