Author On A Mission To Have His Story Heard
The book took more than two years to be put together. Phantom Students focus on the experience of New York City author, Charlton D’souza, on what he and other students faced while attending Marymount Manhattan College Community Leadership Program (CLP). The program was designed to reach out to students in communities that have been overlooked by institutions of higher education.
The program began in 1993, with 15 students enrolled, D’souza had discovered. When the year was over, only one student graduated from it. By a very slim margin, the entire class dropped out.
In 1999, 17 students out of a class of 27 graduated, making it the highest number of students to complete the program. In total, 156 students were enrolled in the program.
The program itself is no longer in existence. The last class enrolled documented thus on a chart in Phantom Students was in 2001. His colleague and long time friend since high school, Brandon C. Jennings, was in the program at the time it was cut along with D’souza in early 2004. In addition, he is still paying a loan to this date.
Nationally, D’souza researched that one of the reason why students were dropping out of school was due to economic issues. He went to the U.S Census website and saw that “In 2005, the average tuition was $13,425 for room and board (for in-state students) at the nation’s four-year public colleges and universities. In 2008, that number has increased to $15,372.”
For private institutions, in 2005, tuition, room and board was $36,510. In 2008, the number increased to $41,000 a year.
D’souza was in the program on a full academic scholarship, but on February 21, 2004, he did not get to see it last. It was in the evening when he was leaving school. One of the security guards handed him a letter. Inside, it was a statement that said he was “no longer a student and had been discharged from the university.”
When he was in transition of wanting to transfer to another school, D’souza could not get a transcript or speak with any members of the administration. So he protested “outside the college and held a press conference seeking help. He also began to file complaints to the United States Department of Education and the Attorney Generals office, and the person holding the position was former governor, Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer also has a connection with the institution as well.
The young man is very driven and determined. Even his former Marymount professor Americo Casiano believes in him. Casiano currently works for the Bronx Council on the Arts, a private non-profit organization that provides “cultural services and arts programs” for community oriented organizations throughout the Bronx.
The book is almost ready to print. It has only 176 pages. And he has a website where he is trying to reach out to schools to speak about his story. He came up with the name Phantom Students because he ”wanted to bring attention to the students who weren’t graduating from college.” Pretty soon the book will be up on the website to be viewed chapter by chapter. Later this month, a book signing party will take place.
Visit the website at http://www.phantomstudentsacrossamerica.com/