TSU set to launch intelligence program
Pilot allows students to explore espionage
By Sheldon Scruggs
Diversity Institute Fellow
03.30.06
Davidson County High School students who are fans of Tom Clancy and his hero Jack Ryan can find out if they are suited for a career in intelligence operations this summer at Tennessee State University.
Thirty-two juniors and seniors from area high schools will learn about the world of international espionage in a 12-day “intelligence studies” pilot program offered by TSU’s new Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence.
The center recently received a $750,000 from the Office of National Intelligence to establish college and high school programs related to national and international intelligence.
“This is a way to motivate high school students to provide a future for themselves,” said Erik Smeller, the director of the program. “They can get an education and get paid for it, too.”
The program provides campus housing, meals and, upon successful completion, a stipend of $600. Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and letters of recommendation.
The college-level program, the Center for Academic Excellence in Intelligence Studies, will begin in the spring of 2007, according to William Lawson, the program’s interim director. Lawson said the center will provide experiences that will help qualify students to become intelligence analysts. However, he stressed, they are not obligated to do so.
The center already has selected 16 high-achieving students to travel to Eastern Europe, South Africa, Australia, or China to study that country’s political system and culture.
“It is from this pool that we will solicit as many students for the program as our budget will allow,” Dr. Lawson said.
But Lenora Peters Gant, National Director of the Washington-based Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence, said the program also prepares students for a variety of careers.
“These students will be good for America. Any one of them will be able to walk into any Fortune 500 company anywhere, and get a job.”