Fourteen-Year-Old Black Girl Enters Pre-Med Honors Program at Mary Baldwin College

Marne Garretson, a 14-year-old African American, just completed ninth grade at the public high school in Clarksburg, Maryland. She will not be returning for her sophomore year.

Instead, 14-year-old Garretson will enroll in the Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students (PEG) in the Global Honors Scholars Program at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. She will become a member of the Class of 2013 and complete her high school course requirements as part of her college curriculum. Blacks make up 18 percent of all undergraduate enrollments at the college.

The PEG program for gifted young girls was begun at Mary Baldwin College 20 years ago. Seventy students are now enrolled. All entering PEG students live in a separate dormitory with adult supervision.

Garretson plans to major in clinical laboratory science. She hopes to one day earn a medical degree and a Ph.D. and to conduct research.

Copyright © 2009. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.