Project Uplift couple carries on mission for equity

When Ronda Taylor Bullock and Kelvin Bullock think back to their 1999 weekend at Carolina’s Project Uplift, it’s hard not to view the summer as life changing.

Project Uplift was where the couple first met, where they connected over their shared dream of being educators. Kelvin remembers Ronda showing up to the program with a heavy wrap on her knee, only a week removed from ACL surgery. Ronda remembers Kelvin’s spoken-word poem at the talent show. The poem ran so long that someone had to take the microphone away from him.

The Bullocks smile at those teenage memories now, 19 years into their marriage. Not only did that summer bring them together, but in many ways, it set the foundation for the rest of their lives.

Founded in 1969, Project Uplift is an access program designed to give rising high school seniors from underrepresented populations a taste of college life. Students take classes and interact with Carolina faculty, sleep and eat on campus and take part in breakout sessions and team-bonding activities. Many Project Uplift attendees later enroll at Carolina, but they’re encouraged by their counselors to attend the university that best fits their needs.

As Black students from rural North Carolina counties, Ronda and Kelvin came away from Project Uplift feeling emboldened. Not only did they both go on to attend Carolina, but they later served as Project Uplift counselors themselves.

“Just to see so many smart, like-minded, Black and brown people in a space like that, I had never experienced that coming from a high school that was 82% white,” said Ronda, who grew up in Goldston in Chatham County. “Just being there kind of dispelled some of the myths that I wasn’t qualified or that UNC is not a place for me.

“They did a great job making you feel like UNC is a place that you should choose and that you would be welcomed here — you and your identity, your full self, will be welcome here.”

Despite ranking No. 2 in her high school class, Ronda didn’t think UNC-Chapel Hill was a real option for her until she attended the program. She went on to earn three degrees from Carolina, finishing her doctorate in the School of Education’s policy, leadership and school improvement program in 2018. Kelvin, from Wilson, earned two degrees at Carolina and a doctorate from NC State University.

After college, both taught at Hillside High School in Durham, and throughout their careers, they’ve worked to promote equity in education.

In 2015, the couple co-founded Durham-based nonprofit WE ARE, which stands for “working to extend anti-racist education.” The organization provides anti-racism training for children, families and educators, with the goal of dismantling the systemic issues that create inequity. WE ARE takes a three-pronged approach by offering summer camps for elementary school students, professional development for educators and workshops for parents and families.

The work is fitting, considering how and where the Bullocks first met. In many ways, WE ARE echoes a core value of Project Uplift — that education is for everyone.

“I’m trying to think for a minute just about how amazing — and I’ll say divine — it is that we met at a minority student recruitment program,” Kelvin said. “I also have to credit our professors at UNC, who helped us to zoom out and see the bigger picture and to also understand that we had a responsibility.

“We were privileged to be at UNC, and I’m thankful I had the opportunity. But I always knew that I had a responsibility to change systems for others.”

Project Uplift jumpstarted the Bullocks, and their work continues.