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Issue: Spring 2017 | Posted: June 1, 2017

Giving Students an EDGE on Life

Students in the first cohort of Union’s EDGE program for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities graduated in May

(L TO R) Taylor Flood, Hannah Espy, Mary Porter, Ethan Wilson, Kelsie Layman, Maria Tatman, Seth Ratliff

51���� welcomed the first cohort of students into the Union EDGE program in August 2015. In May 2017, that first cohort walked across the stage at spring commencement.

Jennifer Graves, director of the EDGE program, says the program exists to give students with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to have a college experience. The students live and work on campus alongside students in traditional programs.

“We work with students in four areas— life skills, employment skills, social skills and their relationship with Christ—to give them an edge on life,” Graves says.

After completing two years in the program, students receive a certificate of completion. Seth Ratliff was one of the first students to receive the certificate.

Ratliff says the EDGE program allowed him to have the college experience he always wanted and taught him valuable skills for employment. He says he wanted to attend Union because of his grandparents, who graduated from Union. The EDGE program allowed him to do that.

During his time at Union, Ratliff was part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He says his brothers in the fraternity were very accepting and have become good friends.

“I get to hang out with all sorts of people,” Ratliff says. “It’s been a really great experience.”

Graves says the Union community has accepted EDGE students in a remarkable way and helped them integrate into campus life. Each first-year student has five mentors—other students who hang out with them, encourage them and help them when needed.

“We have the best mentors I could ask for,” Graves says. “When they’re doing something, they invite our students along. They offer to give them rides. They treat our students just like everyone else, and that’s what they need.”

Each first-year student also does two on-campus internships. Students have worked in most campus offices in many different kinds of jobs. In his first year, Ratliff worked for Information Technology and the Wellness Center at Union. In his second year, he worked at Academy Sports and Outdoor in Jackson.

“I clean things and talk to customers and ask them if they need help,” Ratliff says. “I like having a real job.”

In addition to his employment skills, Ratliff has learned many life skills through the EDGE program. He has had lessons on cooking, shopping, doing laundry, answering phones and taking messages. He has learned how to deal with money, from counting it to making a withdrawal from an ATM. He has also been able to take a personal finance class in Union’s McAfee School of Business.

Ratliff says this class was one of his favorites, along with classes on political science, American government and principles of management.

Ratliff says college can be intimidating. He was far from his hometown of Coppell, Texas, and it was difficult to not see his family every day, but he says he learned a lot that he hopes to take into a full-time job when he graduates.

“College is a different experience,” he says. “It’s a whole new life. It takes time to get used to, but my friends have done an amazing job helping me.”

Graves says she is grateful for Union and the way the campus has welcomed EDGE students. She says everyone, from the administration to the faculty to the student body, has shown the love of Christ to the students in the program.

“Every single day when I walk on campus, I see the hand of God,” Graves says. “Our students want the same things every other college student wants. They want to work. They want relationships. And Union is providing that.”