10 years of Spanning the Gaps

For 10 years, The Chang School-based access-to-education program Spanning the Gaps has proven that education can break cycles of inter-generational poverty and exclusion, and that university can transform lives. The program celebrated its 10 anniversary with an event at the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre on September 20, and the event gave its alumni and supporters a chance to reflect on this core goal.

“Nothing speaks more clearly to our core mission as a university: 1) providing a path to success, particularly for people who are underrepresented in post-secondary education; 2) transforming lives and family; 3) helping communities, and building a powerful community here; and 4) making post-secondary education accessible,” said Ryerson President Mohamed Lachemi.

“I know that many people are struggling to access post-secondary. It’s our responsibility in post-secondary education to help those people who are looking for access.”

Spanning the Gaps provides a bridge to post-secondary education for people who might not otherwise have access. O’neil Edwards, program director of Spanning the Gaps, reflected on how “the little program that was” has gone from supporting a cohort of 17 people in its first year to enrolling over 70 students each term.

“We have made tremendous strides in supporting people. You know they have a slogan in the States: ‘No child left behind’? No one should be left behind. The university has said that no one that has the dream, that has the opportunity, the willingness to work will be left behind.”

In a keynote address, Ryerson Athletics Director Ivan Joseph spoke about the importance of Spanning the Gap’s alumni as role models. “I can’t tell you how many people come to me from underrepresented populations looking to me for leadership, mentorship and guidance—not because I’m good at it, but because I’m a person they feel connected to. And I see all the underrepresented populations here—whether you’re first-generation, a different colour, a different gender, ethnicity, whatever it might be—that is a responsibility you must take forth.”

The event climaxed with a graduation ceremony for the 2016-2017 Transition Foundations Program. Valedictorian Patricia Dunn praised the faculty by quoting Maya Angelou, who stated, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said; they will forget what you did; but they will never forget the way you made them feel.” She went on to describe the solidarity felt by the graduating cohort.

“I celebrate the fact that we come from so many different walks of life, cultures, and backgrounds. Although our stories are very different, somehow we’ve managed to all arrive at the same place, where our common denominator is our hunger and burning desire for something more, that screams louder than the sound of our own voices,” said Dunn.

That burning desire is our compass to finding your own path and achieving your own goals. We will walk through this new threshold into the future together with the strength that we’ve built up over our own lives. And we’ve come to understand over the last year that we belong here.

“What lies ahead can be daunting and very scary, but the same cards that brought us here we must grip again and charge forward. Mandela says it best: ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but triumph over it.’”

Spanning the Gaps offers programs for disadvantaged high school students and adults to help them transition into post-secondary education. Programs include the Transition Foundations Program (for mature standings), Road to Ryerson (for high school students), Ryerson University Now (which provides high school students at risk of dropping out with the opportunity to earn a high school credit), weeklong Quick Start workshops, and the Veterans Transition to Education program.

Over its 10-year history, a total of 736 learners have gone through the Transition Foundations Program, and 425 youth have participated in Road to Ryerson. 324 Spanning the Gaps alumni have graduated from an undergraduate degree program.

The success of Spanning The Gaps is due in part to generous contributions to the program. Toronto philanthropists Phyllis and William Waters were early supporters of Spanning the Gaps with a foundational gift of $1 million in 2008, and, in 2010, TD Bank Group supported the Road to Ryerson program within Spanning the Gaps through part of their gift of $750,000 to the Make Your Mark campaign.

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