In another effort to diversify UVM?s predominantly white student body, the University has given students from some of New York City?s poorest and most multiethnic boroughs the opportunity to expand their college options through the Urban Partnership program.The program was created as a collaboration between the University and three schools in the Bronx and one in Manhattan in order to give college-planning support to inner-city students from New York. These high school students are given opportunities to visit UVM and then are encouraged to apply to the University during their senior year, said Director of Admissions Beth Wiser.?From the perspective of the schools, we are providing an opportunity for students to become familiar with a college option outside of New York State,? said Deborah Gale, assistant director for UVM admissions in the Manhattan region.While UVM has made some progress in increasing its overall multiethnic population?UVM?s minority undergraduate has increased from about 4.6 percent in 2011 to approximately 10.4 percent today? the reality is that Burlington and the Bronx could not be more different. Burlington?s population is one of the least diverse in the country, with only 22.3 percent of its population reporting itself as belonging to any race besides Caucasian. By contrast, the Bronx county has a minority population of 50.8 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau reports from 2011. In the first stages of the program, staff from the University is sent to work with students in the ninth grade for about two days, Gale said.?The schools identify areas they want us to cover with their students when we visit,? Gale said. The staff then works with these students each year, teaching them about the application process, financial aid and time management. Students get the chance to visit the University in ninth, 11th and 12th grades. ?When the Urban Partnership Program began in 2001, UVM worked with only the Christopher Columbus high school. The program enrolled 13 students in its first year.Working with the ALANA center, the students from the first year of this program were able to find a home at UVM, even when certain incidents on campus presented a disturbing challenge to the University?s diversity efforts.That same year, a student hung a Confederate flag from his dorm room and refused to take it down, even after the administration demanded it be removed, a Vermont Quarterly article stated.An alumnus named Alex Wilcox, who was the director of business development at JetBlue airways in 2001, persuaded his CEO at the time to provide 200 annual free tickets for students, faculty and admissions staff participating in the program.This has contributed to an overall budget for the partnership program that totals about $12,000 annually.?It is important to create a diverse student body and these schools help provide that diversity,? Wiser said. ?More importantly the schools are committed to helping their students attend college and we are happy to be one of those schools that are their choices.? More than 200 students from the program have enrolled at UVM since it first started, Wiser said.One of these students, first-year Richard Santana from Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx said he gained a great opportunity from the program.Santana said he was chosen to visit the University after an essay he submitted freshman year of high school stating why he wanted to participate in the program was chosen as one of the best.?It definitely opened up opportunities for me,? he said. ?If I didn?t come to visit, I wouldn?t have even considered UVM. It basically brought these schools into mind, and I became familiar with what they had to offer.? ?Personally I love it here and I know other people who have gone through the same program and they love it too. It?s a great program honestly.?Most recently, the Urban Partnership Program took 29 students in the fall of 2012, Gale said. The program has added two additional high schools to its program: Gary Comer Charter Prep in Chicago and Mastery Charter School in Philadelphia.