The Partnership with Lafayette College

During the February 2020 break, the French Heritage Language Program launched a pilot program with Lafayette College and its students in the French department. The partnership has mutual benefits: the FHLP students are mentored and supported in the process of university admissions, and Lafayette students have the opportunity to develop new friendships and relationships and practice their French with people who come from a very different community of learners.

The PAL (Lafayette Friendship Partnership) partnership continued this year online.The pandemic prevented us from organizing the flagship event of this partnership: the annual visit of the university which allows our students to be immersed for two days in the life of an American campus; sharing a room with American students and taking part in the activities organized on the campus.  We still managed to keep the partnership alive: a dozen FHLP students in 10^th, 11^th and 12^th were paired with Lafayette College students with whom they met regularly on Zoom and Google meet but also through texts and emails to prepare for the SAT, work on their college essay or simply better understand how the American system of college admissions works.

Through the French language, this program is building a bridge between students who otherwise would have never met, it gives our students an unique access to an institution who might seem out of reach and hopefully will encourage some of them to consider institutions like Lafayette College as viable options as they prepare for their academic future.