Outliers Book Club, an affinity group for Andover students on full financial aid, gets its name from the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell, which members of the club receive upon joining. Outliers seeks to educate students about socioeconomic class and provide emotional support to those on financial aid.
In particular, Outliers focuses on the concept of cultural and social capital as key factors in success. Backed by alumni support, Outliers takes students on cultural and social “outings,” which include activities like watching sports games and musicals.
“Outliers is about reading these stories and recognizing that success is about opportunity,” said Linda Carter Griffith, Dean of the Community and Multicultural Development Office and organizer of Outliers.
“We’ve been blessed that there have been alumni who’ve supported us, many of whom were on full scholarship and remember the days when they couldn’t go on spring break or college trips all around the country. We might go to an athletic event in town, or we might order a particular type of food in order to try a new food experience,” Griffith said.
Each new book that Outliers reads is given to the members of the club to read on their own time. Once or twice a term, Outliers meets to discuss the books and how they relate to socioeconomic class.
“We are trying to create affirmation that would help students not have shame. Part of the group is to do some education around class … and it’s to give the students awareness, affirmation and pride in recognizing what they’ve been able to achieve despite coming from meager means,” Griffith said.
Each year, Outliers sponsors a “Career Exposure Weekend” in the spring, taking club members to New York to visit the offices of big corporations. Alumni also give mock interviews and students prepare resumés to experience the process of applying for jobs, according to Griffith.
“Cultural capital is what you know. Social capital is who you know. [Through] exposure to these alums in various fields and careers, many of whom were full scholarship students themselves, you get role modeling, you get some mentorship and coaching and you get some inspiration from somebody who comes from your path. You see that they’ve been able to be successful, so you can too,” Griffith said.
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Read about the other support groups at Andover covered in this week’s issue, and stay tuned for an exploration of religious affinity groups next week.
– [AMP Mentoring](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/amp-mentoring)
– [MOSAIC Mentoring](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/mosaic-mentoring)
– [Post-Graduate Support Program](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/post-graduate-support-program)
– [New Upper Support Program](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/new-upper-support-program)
– [The Sisterhood](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/sisterhood)
– [GLP Mentoring Program](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/glp-mentoring-program)
– [The Brotherhood](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/brotherhood)
