A question asked by a Clinton School student to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has led to a new partnership to promote socio-economic diversity in higher education.
During Duncan’s August visit to speak at the Clinton School, Fernando Cutz (’12), co-founder of U/FUSED (United for Undergraduate Socio-Economic Diversity), asked Duncan about ways to promote diversity in higher education.
Founded in 2009 when Cutz was an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, U/FUSED promotes socio-economic diversity awareness through chapters at colleges and universities across the country.
The question sparked a brief chat and email exchanges before Cutz was invited to Washington, D.C., to meet with senior Department of Education officials and representatives of the Pell Institute.
The meeting resulted in a new partnership between U/FUSED and the Department of Education in working towards President Obama’s 2020 goal of America once again have the most college graduates of any country in the world.