Fred Clark, 64, is the angel -- though he prefers the term "grandfather" -- for nearly 1,400 low-income students going to school free under the university's covenant scholarship program. If you drop out, Clark will cajole you to return. If you have a toothache and no health insurance -- one student's plight not long ago -- he'll get you treatment at the dental school. No charge. And if you don't have plans for lunch, he'll take you out for a burger.

Since the program began four years ago, Clark has quietly cleared a path for these scholars from Day 1 to commencement. Today, the first group graduates.

Jeremy Fulton of Morehead City, a member of the covenant program's first class who is graduating today, said of Clark, "He's always there and always wants to know how you're doing. It's really reassuring. You don't have to worry too much because you know if you have a question, you can just go to him."

The university is heavily invested in the success of these students, many the products of poor urban or rural school systems and some from single-parent homes, and he is committed to clearing obstacles from their paths.

The covenant program was unveiled to much fanfare in 2003, lauded locally and nationally as a shift in the way public universities administer scholarship dollars. It was politically popular in a state whose public university system is built on the belief that a college education should be broadly affordable and accessible. A capital campaign to underwrite its expenses, led by Tar Heel basketball coach Roy Williams, has raised $10 million and is aiming for twice that total.

Inspired by a program at Princeton, the covenant spawned more than 80 imitators, according to one of several UNC-CH press releases issued last week trumpeting the program and its first graduates.

Although the precise number of scholars graduating today was not clear, more than 90 percent of the 224 scholars who enrolled in fall 2004 were still in school last week, officials said.

Plotting for success

Statistically, low-income college students are likely to come from high schools offering fewer advanced courses and less academic support. From the outset, university officials knew these students would need extra attention, said Shirley Ort, director of scholarships and student aid.

"We want to remove barriers to their academic success once they're here," she said. "It's not enough just to get them here."

Other universities preach a similar message. At N.C. State, the two-year-old Pack Promise -- a scholarship program patterned after UNC-CH's covenant -- leans heavily on 48 academic coaches who work specifically with the program's students, many of whom are the first in their families to go to college.

"This is a new experience for many of these students and for their parents," said Julie Rice Mallette, N.C. State's director of scholarships and financial aid. "You can put all the money you want on the table, but if you don't have the academic and social support, you won't succeed."

In Chapel Hill, that's where Clark comes in. A professor of Portuguese who has worked at UNC-CH for 41 years, Clark is an oasis of calm for students on a chaotic four-year journey. On a given day, he might counsel a covenant scholar on financial aid, mental health or grades. He might line up testing if he suspects a learning disability. Several times a week, he sends out blanket e-mail to his brood, advising them of the latest academic skills workshop he has lined up or letting them know he has free vouchers available to a concert or dance recital at the Carolina Performing Arts Series.

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