BOSTON & DALLAS – March 12, 2024 – City Year, Inc., a national educational organization with a mission to advance student and school success, has joined forces with Paul Quinn College, the nation’s first Urban Work College. The partnership with Paul Quinn College represents a first-of-its-kind collaboration with an HBCU, making higher education more accessible and affordable and opening direct access to corporate internships for City Year AmeriCorps members, alums, and staff.
“To be in best service to our AmeriCorps members and alumni, it is critical to have HBCU partnerships, like this new partnership with Paul Quinn College, partnerships that create strategic pathways to opportunity for our Black and brown AmeriCorps members. This shows our BIPOC community our deep investment in them,” said Stephen Spaloss (Boston, ‘91), City Year executive. vice president and chief equity officer.
As part of the partnership, City Year AmeriCorps members completing a year of service as student success coaches working with teachers in under-resourced public schools nationwide to provide social, emotional and academic support to students, will have the opportunity to attend Paul Quinn College and receive a direct pathway to its Corporate Work Program. In this program, students can receive up to four years of corporate work experience and up to $18,000 per year in scholarships.
“We are proud to be City Year’s first HBCU partner as we share a dedication to creating opportunities for diverse groups of individuals to thrive in America’s workforce,” said Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, President of Paul Quinn College. “City Year alums stand out as some of the most prepared and driven individuals, and we eagerly welcome them to our campus, classrooms, and culture as integral contributors to our vibrant academic community.”
Established in 2015, Paul Quinn’s Corporate Work Program provides students the opportunity to gain real-world work experience through corporate internships while limiting their reliance on student loans. Students can receive up to $18,000 per year in annual scholarships based on their internship placement and additional federal and City Year funds received.
Typically, a Paul Quinn student would spend the first year in an on-campus internship before starting in the Corporate Work Program in their second year. City Year members, alums and staff will have access to the Corporate Work Program during year one, giving them enhanced financial support from corporate partners and the chance to begin exploring career pathways and strengthen their leadership skills in their first semester.
City Year has a longstanding program that includes partnerships with more than 100 colleges and universities across the country. University partners offer a combination of benefits that can include exclusive scholarship funds, application fee waivers, and enrollment deferral should a City Year member choose to continue their service with City Year beyond one year.
This partnership brings together two organizations with a shared vision — to remove systemic barriers to education and help those students furthest from opportunity realize their potential, prepare for leadership roles in their communities and make a difference in the world.
Watch this video from Dr. Lola Esmieu, Paul Quinn College Chief of Staff and a City Year alum, to learn more about the City Year and Paul Quinn partnership: https://library.cityyear.org/asset/6419e794-7660-41fb-ab41-b4c206652708/mp4/City-Year-x-PQC-Video.mp4
For more information on City Year’s University Partnerships: https://www.cityyear.org/alumni-life/career-resources/university-partnerships/
About City Year:
City Year is a trailblazing, youth-powered organization with a dual mission: expanding educational equity for students furthest from opportunity and developing diverse leaders through national service. Research shows the more time a student spends with a City Year AmeriCorps member serving as student success coach, the better the student outcomes—academically, socially, and emotionally. A public-private partnership, City Year is a proud member of AmeriCorps, operating in 29 U.S. cities with international affiliates in the U.K. and South Africa. Today, 37,000 alums continue to lead and serve where they live and work. Learn more about City Year’s six areas of impact: www.cityyear.org, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Paul Quinn College:
Paul Quinn College is a private, faith-based, four-year, liberal arts-inspired college that was founded in 1872, by a group of African Methodist Episcopal Church preachers in Austin, Texas. The school’s original purpose was to educate freed slaves and their offspring. Today, Paul Quinn proudly educates students of all races and socioeconomic classes under the banner of its institutional ethos, WE over Me. It is the first Urban Work College and only minority-serving, federally recognized work college in America. Paul Quinn is viewed as one of the most innovative colleges in America, one that continuously expands the boundaries of higher education and community advocacy in its quest to eradicate intergenerational poverty. For more information, visit www.paulquinn.edu.
Media Contact, Paul Quinn College: Anthea Danby, anthea@minervaco.com, 214-205-8062
Media Contact, City Year: Joe Zappala, joseph_zappala@city year.org, 607-339-1098
Coach Keldrick McKinney is a native of Dallas, Texas who enters his third year as the Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach at Paul Quinn College. After serving one year as Associate Head Coach under the leadership of Coach Maurice West; Coach McKinney was given the opportunity by Paul Quinn’s legendary Athletic Director James “Zip” Summers.
The program has quickly grown from 3 to now 25 student athletes under the leadership of Coach McKinney. In the second year of competing at the Red River Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships, the Paul Quinn Tigers placed two athletes in the Top 10.
Coach McKinney received his bachelor’s in Kinesiology from Prairie View A&M University. After graduation he then opened a training facility where he trained hundreds of athletes. This provided the background and experience for Coach to thrive at the next level. Coach McKinney’s student-athletes not only excel on the track but also in the classroom as well. Coach McKinney’s team maintains over a 3.0 gpa.
Coach Michael Delgado has been coaching at the collegiate level since 2009. He began his coaching career at Howard Payne University, shortly after starting his time there as a collegiate soccer player. He began as a student coach and after graduating with a degree in Spanish Education, became an assistant.
In 2015, Coach Delgado moved back to Dallas to form the Men’s and Women’s Soccer program at Paul Quinn College as the assistant coach and became the head coach of the Women’s team in 2017. From 2015-2021 he was also the Men’s assistant coach.
In 2021, Coach Delgado took over the Men’s program and led the team as the #3 seed (highest in school history) to the USCAA National Championship for the 3rd year in a row, with a 3rd place finish.
Coach Delgado is a Dallas native and graduated from Mesquite Poteet High School as a district MVP & All-State. He holds his Master’s degree from Concordia University in Coaching & Athletic Administration. He resides in the campus neighborhood of Highland Hills and lives daily by his motto, #AlwaysRefuse2Lose.
Brandon Espinosa starts his fourth season as Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Paul Quinn College.
Last season, Coach Espinosa and the Tigers had a historic 19 game turnaround from the previous year going from 7-25 to 26-2 (12-2 RRAC). Coach Espinosa led the 2021-2022 Tigers to the school’s first USCAA Men’s Division I National Championship and the 3rd overall national championship in school history. The Tigers also won the Red River Athletic Conference West (RRAC) regular season title for the first time since joining the conference in 1998. The Tigers finished the 2021-2022 season with the most RRAC wins and highest winning percentage in a season in program history.
The Tigers were the No. 1 seed at USCAA Nationals and had a dominant showing with 3 double digits wins. The championship game featured seven ties and ten lead changes. After trailing by four at half, 38-34, Bryant & Stratton led 67-65 with 6:33 left in the game. Henry Hampton hit a jumper a minute later to give Paul Quinn the lead to highlight a 10-0 run to seal the victory for the Tigers. Ja’Mare Redus led PQC with 18 points while Hampton finished with 17. Spencer McElway added 12, Ja’Mere Redus came off the bench and scored 11, and Steven Tynes chipped in seven points and nine assists.
While the team’s collective efforts were the deciding factor in their success, several outstanding individuals led them both on and off the court. Coach Brandon Espinosa was recognized as the USCAA National Coach of the Year. In addition, senior forward Spencer McElway was selected as a USCAA 1st Team All American, USCAA All Tournament Team and RRAC 2nd Team All Conference. Sophomore forward Trevoin Shaw was voted USCAA 1st Team All American, USCAA All Tournament Team and RRAC 1st Team All Conference. Sophomore guard Ja’mare Redus received USCAA Tournament MVP as well as USCAA 2nd Team All American Honors. Sophomore guard Torron Mingo Jr. earned the USCAA Academic All American award. Junior guard Caleb Thompson received the RRAC Champions of Character award.
During his first season with Paul Quinn, Espinosa led the Tigers to the most conference victories since 2012-2013. In addition, PQC had two players receive RRAC All Conference honors; Spencer McElway was 1st Team All RRAC and Mateo Escheik received 2nd Team All RRAC honors. McElway also joined the schools 1000-point club.
Espinosa also serves as the Director of EYBL and 17U Head Coach for Drive Nation which was founded by former NBA All-Star Jermaine O’Neal. This summer Drive Nation qualified for the 2021 Nike Peach Jam and currently has the most ESPN Top 100 ranked players in the country.
Espinosa has held coaching positions at Bossier Parish Community College, Ranger College and with the Dallas Mavericks NBA G-League affiliate, Texas Legends.
Espinosa is a native of Houston, Texas. He played collegiately for Dallas Christian College, where in 2010 they won the ACCA National Championship. Espinosa earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 2011.
Paul Quinn did not compete in 2020-2021 due to Covid-19.
Camille Smith is in her first season at Paul Quinn College.
Smith was hired in early March and her most recent position was as an Assistant Coach for the WNBA Dallas Wings.
Prior to coaching, Smith played professionally for 10 seasons internationally and 12 seasons in the WNBA before retiring in 2019. Smith was drafted to the San Antonio Silver Stars in the 2007 WNBA Draft as the 17th Overall pick. Amid the start of the 2008 WNBA season, Smith was selected in the Atlanta Dream dispersal draft before being traded to the Seattle Storm where Smith played and won a championship in 2010! In 2015 Smith was traded to the Connecticut Sun, then to the Phoenix Mercury in 2017, where she finished her career.
Internationally, Smith played on multiple teams in Israel (2015 Israel League Champion) and China. She also played in Turkey, Limassol, Cyrpus, Ragusa, Sicily (2016 Cup Champion), Lebanon (2017 Arab Cup Champion), Montpelier, France, and Venice, Italy (2018 Euro Cup runner-up).
As a former student-athlete at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Camille graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in interpersonal communications. A four-time All-ACC selection, she finished her college career with over 1,700 points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists, and 250 steals. As a senior, Camille averaged 13.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game along with 99 steals to help the Tar Heels reach the Final Four. Camille is ranked among the top 20 all-time scorers at UNC and was named Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press following her junior year. She averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds as a junior. As a sophomore, Camille averaged 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in the ACC tournament, including a 23-point game against Duke in the finals. In 2004, she was named ACC Rookie of the Year and was the only freshman selected as a finalist for Kodak All-American honor. Camille became the first Tar Heel to be named first-team All-ACC as a freshman.
In high school, Camille was named Associated Press NC Player of the Year and NC Miss Basketball (Class 3A; 2003). Camille was also awarded State Player of the Year by the Charlotte Observer and NC Gatorade Player of the Year (2002 and 2003). In 2001, Camille shared AP Player of the Year honors at Carver High School and helped her team finish with a 30-0 record and State Championship. Camille is a three-time All-State Selection and averaged 20.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game during her senior year. She holds the record of 2,168 career points during her high school career, was a McDonald’s High School All-American, and played in the 2002 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival. Camille was also named Piedmont Triad All-Conference, four years in a row, and Piedmont Triad Conference Player of the Year, three years in a row.
Camille Smith & her husband Jeremis Smith are happily married & live in the Historical Stop 6 Community.
Coach Patrick Gonzalez is a native of Fort Worth, Texas. He has a Bachelor of Science in Sociology with emphasis in Criminal Justice from Texas Wesleyan University. He also has a M.Ed. in Sports Administration from Concordia University in Austin, Texas. He has coached volleyball for over thirteen years. He has coached on the high school, club, and collegiate level.
He currently coaches for 360 Volleyball Club in Arlington, Texas. Coach Gonzalez brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Paul Quinn College volleyball program. He served as the women’s assistant volleyball coach at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee for five seasons. While at Fisk University, Coach Gonzalez served as an Admissions Counselor and Director of International Student Services in the Office of Student Engagement. He has also worked at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and served as the Associate Director of Minority Outreach in the Office of Admissions. He most recently was selected into the Big XII Reach & Teach Volleyball Diversity Program.
