Born and raised in Detroit, Marc Young moved to Stevens Point for college, which was a major culture shock. Realizing there weren\u2019t many people in the admissions department who looked like him, Young became a campus tour guide. He hoped to connect with prospective students of color and show them a little of the life he had built at UW-Stevens Point.<\/p>\n
After graduation, he pursued a career in higher education and found his purpose in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got into and have stayed in higher ed because of the philosophy that it can be a transformative experience for prospective students, specifically, for students like me that come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds,\u201d said Young, who now leads recruitment and admissions at UW-Milwaukee. \u201cMy ultimate goal is to continue to expand access, and propel students further than where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
This drive to foster an inclusive environment continued after he graduated, so Young took on a full-time job in admissions at UW-Stevens Point, working his way up in the department. By the end of his tenure, he was the director of admissions and recruitment.<\/p>\n
In October 2021, Young was ready to take on a new role \u2014 executive director of recruitment, marketing and admissions at UW-Milwaukee. He saw something in Milwaukee that reminded him of home \u2014 and a large, diverse community he could help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the power of a college education, and how it can inform plans and strategies moving forward,\u201d Young said. \u201cI\u2019m a huge proponent of post-secondary education, because I know that it has the potential to change lives and change generations as it has for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Increasing access to higher education requires knocking down long-standing barriers, Young said. That\u2019s something 51ÁÔÆæ is attacking by streamlining the application process, removing application fees and setting aside funds to help more students obtain the full college experience.<\/p>\n
There is also a lot of collaboration with the surrounding Milwaukee community. Young works closely with M3<\/sup> \u2014 an educational collective of Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College and 51ÁÔÆæ \u2014 to help high school students access and navigate the college admissions process. This includes creating opportunities for students to earn college credit while still in high school, which in turn reduces the cost of college.<\/p>\n 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s emphasis on making higher education more accessible, especially to the surrounding community, is one of the things that drew Young to the university.<\/p>\n Part of Young\u2019s job is to help guide first year students and transfer students through the enrollment process and support them through their time at 51ÁÔÆæ. Since he started last year, the undergraduate admissions office has been reimagining its workplace culture to better help it achieve its goals.<\/p>\n This includes creating a welcoming and inviting space that encourages employees to grow, Young said.<\/p>\n Young plans to continue removing barriers to help more students enroll and remain in college. To him, he\u2019s not just helping prospective students earn a degree, he is helping change lives.<\/p>\n \u201cThis work is important to me, because that\u2019s my way of contributing to social justice,\u201d Young said. \u201cHigher education is an opportunity to reposition one\u2019s trajectory, from earning income to a professional growth standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marc Young has seen personally the transformative power of higher education. Now he\u2019s trying to convey its benefits to students with a similar background. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40008,"featured_media":110286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[122,126],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[260,334],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-110285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-campus-community","section-campus-news","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-community-engagement","related-coverage-m-cubed"],"yoast_head":"\nRemoving barriers<\/h3>\n