Timbuktu Academy at SouthernUniversity, a mentoring program for undergraduate and graduate science,mathematics and engineering majors, is known for its innovative approach inacademics. The program wasrecently featured in The Black Collegian, “the career magazine forstudents of color.”
The article, “The TimbuktuAcademy — The Genius Factory at Southern University,” focuses on theachievements and the founder of the Academy.
Timbuktu Academy is led by Dr.Diola Bagayoko, a physics professor at Southern. The Academy began in 1990, andthe Office of Navel Research began granting funds for it in 1993.
“The reason the Timbuktu Academywas started was because of three simple reasons,” Bagayoko said. “From middleschool to grad school I’d had mentors to help me achieve, and in 1984 I beginmentoring students right here at Southern University, and finally because of mywife — she said that I should put my skill and my brain power to work to helpothers achieve.”
With funding from the Office ofNavel Research with over $11 million to date over the past decade, the TimbuktuAcademy has helped and mentored nearly 2,000 students.
It has aided in improvingstandardized test scores as well as developing superior study skills among highschool students.
Arthur Monroe, current SouthernUniversity Student Government Association president is one of many students whoparticipated in Timbuktu’s high school program before attending college.
”I attended the program in high school in 1999 and theprogram prepared me for college,” Monroe said. “Most importantly it exposed meto opportunities at HBCUs. Had I not been exposed I probably would have nevercame to Southern and gotten involved in the SGA.”
Timbuktu has also been a drivingforce in on-time graduation and high GRE scores for undergraduate students andfull financial support in graduate students pursuing a Ph. D. The Academy alsoallows students research opportunities with NASA.
“The Academy has nurtured mylove for research and I now plan to pursue my Ph. D. in chemistry at PurdueUniversity,” said Aliah Dugas, a senior from Lafayette.
A similar program sponsored anddirected by the Academy that was also mentioned in the article is the LouisianaAlliance for Minority Participation, better known as LAMP.
Candace Semien, the director ofoutreach operations at LAMP, said, “LAMP is designed to replicate the TimbuktuAcademy at eleven universities state wide across Louisiana and this feature inthe magazine has given the academy a national spot light.”
Bagayoko agreed that the articlehas served the Academy and its mission well.
“(The article served as) atremendous good service by making it known to community as well as the nation –I even got a call from Europe.”
