Judith Penchansky

SMC Staff

“We teach our students ‘the system.’ And that’s the most important thing: learning the ropes.”

Judith Penchansky and her staff of the EOP&S program she coordinates function as “family advisers” to students from low-income households. And they have a message for students in need of financial help: they want you to succeed!

“All our students are low-income,” says Judith. “But they’re also educationally disadvantaged. They’re often first generation college students or just learning English. And it’s quite rewarding work because we do for our students what college-educated parents would do for their kids. We help them learn the system.”

“We have a lot of incredible programs for students in need,” continues Judith. “We offer priority enrollment and give grant money for books, as much as $200. We try to give hope and whatever extra services and advantages we can provide. Our goal is to make sure students stay in the program until they’ve reached their goal. And the ones who are the most successful,” she adds, “are the ones who come in to see us most often. The EOP&S office stays with its students every step of the way until they accomplish what they set out to do.”

Judith and her family travel often through Mexico to study and collect folk art. But a trip to the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, is the next destination, where Judith will at last visit a place she has a deep feeling for: the church of Dr. Martin Luther King.

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