FOCUS, Georgia Tech's annual recruitment/awareness event for minority undergraduate students, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The program is designed to give minority undergraduate students and any student who feels that the program will be beneficial a chance to visit Georgia Tech, encourage them to pursue graduate studies and participate in the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. 210 students were selected for this year's program, and as part of the program graduates from each of the past fourteen years will be recognized.

This attraction and a partnership between the King Center and the Georgia Institute of Technology led to the development of the FOCUS program in 1991.

"We hope this visit will encourage each student to pursue an advanced degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology but if not Georgia Tech an institution of their choice," said Robert Haley, founder and Director of the FOCUS Program. "This program has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success. I believe the administration's commitment to the program, coupled with the wonderful students who attend our program, make this a premier event."

FOCUS is credited with keeping Georgia Tech among the leaders for awarding graduate degrees to minority students. The program has hosted more than two thousand students from more than 100 universities during its 15-year existence.

Haley has built the program into one of the finest in the country and believes its success will continue because of the tremendous support from the administration, faculty, staff and students.

"The FOCUS program has a bright future," said Haley. "We have the right chemistry and inclusive environment on campus to keep this program among the elite minority recruiting tools in higher education for years to come. It gives Georgia Tech a clear advantage over its peer institutions."

President Wayne Clough says he's pleased with the program and its success.

"I am proud of the work that Robert Haley and his staff have done to make FOCUS what it is today. This program has become a model that other institutions want to emulate," said Clough.

This year's agenda features speakers Calvin Mackie, co-founder of Channel Zer0; Nicolas Donofrio, executive vice president, Innovation and Technology, IBM; Michael Thurmond, Georgia Commissioner of Labor and Frank Matthews, publisher/editor-in-chief, Diversity Issues in Higher Education..