From Seattle to Sand Beach Cycle odyssey to draw attention to Onward Program at UM

ORONO – A recently retired University of Maine program director and an engineering professor are hoping to raise awareness and scholarship money for the UM Onward Program by bicycling across the United States this summer.

Jerry Ellis, former director of the College Success Program’s Onward Program, and John Hwalek, associate professor of chemical engineering, have shipped their 27-speed Trek 520 touring bikes to Seattle and will fly to the West Coast on June 16. They will begin their 4,300-mile trip from Alexander Beach in Anacortes, Wash., to Sand Beach in Acadia National Park on June 18, riding about 80 miles a day and camping most of the way.

Details about the trek and fundraising campaign are available at www.umaine.edu/csp/jerrystrek/. It also has a link to the Google map Hwalek created with 221 place marks outlining the route.

Ellis and Hwalek want to raise $12,000 for the Jerry Ellis Scholarship Fund for Onward Program students by the time they complete their eight- to 10-week trip.

Onward students typically are nontraditional students who otherwise would not be admitted into a traditional four-year academic program. Onward provides students a preparatory year on campus to take refresher courses in math, science, English and reading to hone their study skills before beginning first-year studies toward a bachelor’s degree.

Ellis, 66, a Vietnam War veteran who holds master’s degrees in theology and counseling, has run two marathons and practiced martial arts before taking up cycling. He views the ride as the pinnacle of his physical pursuits.

Ellis grew up “in a really poor family” in Phillips and was the first in his family to go to college. He said he understands the challenges facing the 50 students UM accepts each year into the Onward Program.

“Onward really is an anomaly at the University of Maine,” Ellis said. “The epitome of the Onward student is a mother who has been divorced and has a couple of kids, who is really intelligent and never thought she’d be able to go to college. Some students are men who are displaced workers.”

But all have untapped potential, he says.

“I have known a lot of people who lived out in Milo or down in Bucksport or here in Bangor who had virtually no opportunities because they were poor and had children,” Ellis said. “They didn’t know how to get from being a single mom to a nursing degree candidate at the University of Maine.”

Through Onward, he said, “people have an opportunity to start their lives over again. It’s like a renaissance. I think it’s very important. I think it’s a good thing for the university to do.”

The College Success Program has several scholarships to help Onward and other at-risk or under-prepared students, and Ellis and wife Ronnie started a scholarship fund through the University of Maine Foundation several years ago. It has $8,200 in it and will begin generating scholarships once it reaches $20,000. Ellis hopes to raise that extra $12,000 through the ride with Hwalek, his long-time running, canoeing and bicycling companion.

Hwalek also looks forward to the cross-country adventure.

“It’s been a lifelong dream,” said Hwalek, 53, who has run several marathons and completed several triathlons. “I’ve been wanting to do this since I was a kid. It’ll be a good physical challenge.”

Hwalek’s son, Jo-Jo, and wife, Ginger, a pianist and School of Performing Arts faculty member, will update Hwalek’s Google map with blog entries and photos the riders take along the way.

Alan Parks, Ellis’ successor in the College Success Program and creator of the Jerry Ellis Scholarship Fund Web site, noted that Ellis’ contributions to Maine’s underprivileged and first-generation college students go beyond the 33 years he spent with the program. Ellis retired last summer.

“His life’s work has been around first-generation, low-income [students] and even students with disabilities,” Parks said. “Even in his retirement, he continues working to serve this population.”

For information, contact Ellis at 942-3582. Contributions may be made online to the Jerry Ellis Scholarship Fund through links on the Jerry Ellis Scholarship Fund Web site.

In May, 14 Onward Program graduates now heading into a UM degree program in the fall received a total of $10,041 in scholarships, Parks said.