Upward Bound Should Be Maintained

Re “Is Upward Bound Headed for a Fall?” Feb. 21: I am an African American Republican and a UCLA graduate and I benefited from being part of the Upward Bound program at Occidental College (1967-1970).

The Upward Bound program is not a poverty program; it is an opportunity program. It allowed us to be away from home to study and learn without distractions. It took in students with desire who needed a hand. It was not limited to black students; it included white, Asian and Latino. We lived together, ate together and became friends. We even dated each other and some of us married each other -- interracially. Upward Bound did not provide scholarships or money of any kind, but it did give me an opportunity and a perspective that I could learn and succeed. It needs to continue.

Robert Gregory Miller

Inglewood