Amidst all the grim reports about the global pandemic, KenSAP has a bit of good news. The last of our Regular Decision admission results have been announced, and I’m pleased to tell you that, once again, all of our college candidates are in, with full financial aid.
The four Regular Decision applicants now join the 17 who were successful in the Early Decision round of admissions as they prepare – a little uncertainly – to enroll in their colleges in the fall. Here’s a list of the admissions:
Regular Decision
Roy Onyando - Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Amherst, Carleton, Colgate, Oberlin
Mercy Omwoyo - Northwestern, Williams, Washington U. in St. Louis
Christine Lekishon - U. Wisconsin-Madison (King-Morgridge Scholarship)
Dennis Yiaile - Haverford
Early Decision
Alphania Muthee - Harvard
Juliet Otieno - Yale
Tevin Singei - Princeton
Ian Kiplagat - Dartmouth
Christine Odhiambo - Brown
Faith Murima - U. Penn
Edwin Ouko - MIT
David Kairu - Amherst
Amina Hussein - Bowdoin
Samuel Waithira - Davidson
Huthefa Maalim - Middlebury
Lucia Mwanzia - Rhodes
Faith Ndanu - Smith
Santana Koringura - Tufts
Michelle Kyalo - Vanderbilt
Naomy Chepngeno - Wesleyan
Galgallo Diba - Williams
These admissions bring to 218 the number of students KenSAP has placed at highly selective North American colleges since 2004, and they mark the 14th straight year in which every student entering the program has been placed.
Perhaps more significant than these numbers is this: 97% of KenSAP students either have graduated or are making timely progress toward their degrees. This is a higher figure than any of the individual colleges can boast – and KenSAP students have achieved it while overcoming challenges that few of their fellow students have had to face.
More than half of KenSAP’s graduates are already back in Kenya working for Kenyan companies, multi-nationals or NGOs, and several have launched their own successful startups. What’s more, they are giving back to the organization that helped them get started. Some 60% of our alumni, both undergraduates and graduates, are regular monthly donors to KenSAP, and they account for about 30% of the program’s annual revenue.
Unfortunately, with campuses shuttered and employees furloughed, that revenue stream is about to shrink drastically, and other streams are going to be cut off altogether. KenSAP’s annual Nairobi fundraiser has been cancelled for this year, as has a projected second New York event. These two gatherings raised more than half the program’s budget last year.
In spite of all this, we’re going to keep the program operating, albeit in somewhat altered fashion. My colleagues and I had planned to begin in-person interviews with KenSAP candidates this week, aiming to complete selection and start the first of our residential training sessions in two weeks. That’s no longer possible. Kenya is in nationwide lock-down, all schools and public gatherings closed. So we’re trying to proceed with selection interviews by phone, and while we hope things improve quickly, we may wind up having to conduct most or all of our test prep and application support remotely.
Whatever compromises we have to make, we will be working with a KenSAP class of 2020, and, with luck, returning to normal operation next year. To keep things going, however, we will need your help. It’s a lot to ask in these dire circumstances, but for anyone who might be in a position to make a contribution to a worthy, tax-deductible cause, I hope you’ll consider KenSAP.
Whatever you can give will help us get through these hard times. Thanks, and all best wishes!