Amanda Gorman mesmerized the country with her passionate recital of her poem, "The Hill We Climb" during the inauguration of President Joe Biden L'68 and Vice President Kamala Harris. Before she captured a nation, Gorman was another at-risk young girl from Los Angeles who had her life transformed by WriteGirl, a writing and mentoring program that launched in 2001 thanks in part to Allison Deegan '80. Each year, more than 500 girls in grades 8 through 12 hone their writing skills, discover their voice and develop into college-bound young women thanks to this mentoring program, which has placed 100 percent of its participants in college. It's the type of program Deegan would have enjoyed and benefitted from when she was growing up, and it's a remarkable story of how this program is putting these at-risk young women on a path to lifelong success. Deegan discusses how WriteGirl empowers these teenagers, how the program helps them become confident leaders, how COVID-19 helped WriteGirl expand its reach across the country, and the important role Syracuse University has played in her life.
