Say Yes to Education’s founder was able to sum up President Barack Obama’s decision to speak in Syracuse and Buffalo, as well of the praise of his organization, with a simile: It was “like someone tells you your kids are beautiful.”

“I think this is a great day for Syracuse,” said George Weiss in an interview before the president’s speech. “And a great day and evening for Say Yes to Education.”

Say Yes is a national nonprofit that offers programs to inner-city students such as extended day, mentoring and tutoring. A cornerstone of the program is a promise of free tuition to colleges it partners with. In Syracuse, there’s about 100 partners, including Syracuse University.

Obama talked about affordability and access to a college education on Thursday night at Henninger High School, in the city’s Eastwood neighborhood. He proposed three reforms to “shake up the current system,” including one that looks to encourage colleges to embrace innovation. And in his opening remarks, Obama specifically mentioned the Say Yes program.

“I wanted to come to Syracuse because you’re doing something fantastic here, with programs like Say Yes — Smart Scholars Early College High School,” he said. “These are programs that are helping Syracuse kids get ready for college, and making sure that they can afford to go.”

Pat Driscoll, director of operations for the Syracuse chapter of Say Yes, emphasized how the program is a collective effort within the city, and also appeared to be happy with the president’s remarks.

“When you hear that from the leader of the free world, it’s pretty impressive — really impressive,” Driscoll said.

“It’s a true testament to what’s been going on with Say Yes since 2008 — and the partnership between the city, county government, the Syracuse City School District, the Syracuse Teachers Association, and of course, Syracuse University.”

Ninety three graduates from SCSD that entered college with the program in 2009 earned degrees from a four-year college in spring 2013, according to the organization’s five-year progress report. Driscoll said more than 2,100 have benefited from the promise, including 186 at SU.

Cordell Grant, a 2009 graduate of Corcoran High School who went to the State University of New York College at Cortland, he said he’s grateful for the program.

Though he said he would’ve attended college before the program was introduced, it’s helped and opened the door to many people in the community. And it’s a system; it’s not just financial, he said. Grant was at the speech, and described it as “awesome” and “great for the community.”

Obama only mentioned Say Yes by name one time in his speech.

“But even throughout the speech he was pretty much acknowledging Say Yes, I think,” Grant said.

Some of the main ideas of the speech and the program are affordability and accessibility, he said.

Said Grant: “Both ideas are the same.”

Published on August 23, 2013 at 10:16 am

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum