Cammie Wilks, Campus Carrier features editor

Bella Patton, Campus Carrier asst. features editor

Throughout the years, Berry has offered a wide variety of generous scholarships and programs to benefit students. These services reach all kinds of students and help them with their needs, whether it be for personal, academic or professional reasons. One of these programs allowing students to become well-rounded in all of these areas is the TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) program.

TRIO SSS is a federally funded program that offers resources to 140 Berry students who are either first generation students, from low income families or have disabilities. The Department of Education sends federal funding to many colleges around the country to help disadvantaged students nationwide receive services they may not have otherwise. 

According to their website, TRIO at Berry seeks to help students develop skills to navigate campus, find belonging, graduate on time and accomplish personal goals. TRIO Scholars receive the opportunity to attend trips, receive one on one counseling from faculty members, participate in workshops that teach academic and financial tips and more. 

Sophomores Jordan Barden and Charleen Yazo are both TRIO SSS student ambassadors. They work alongside a team of fellow TRIO ambassadors to plan events, communicate with freshmen and incoming TRIO scholars, create schedules for the year and coordinate marketing plans to keep students engaged with TRIO. The goal of the ambassadors is to assist the program and help newer TRIO students acclimate to campus. 

“TRIO was something that I was always interested in as a freshman, but I never knew how to go about it,” Barden said. “To see the TRIO freshman thrive is really motivating for me. It helps me continue to do my job.”

Upon coming to Berry, eligible students learn that they can apply for TRIO through email, but they often don’t know about all the resources they can receive in the program. Yazo was one of these students, and after learning as an incoming freshman that she could get involved in TRIO, she began to attend various trips led by TRIO and became an ambassador. Her involvement and dedication led to her being awarded a $500 dollar grant. 

According to Yazo, the workshops that TRIO offers are one of the most beneficial resources for students. These events are planned by TRIO directors and student ambassadors to help provide students with opportunities to learn and grow closer to their peers. 

“The workshops are on a variety of different topics,” Yazo said. “There are a lot of financial lessons that come with workshops, too. A majority of TRIO students are low-income, so it feels like TRIO is helping us break the cycle while we’re in college.”

Donald Trump’s 2026 budget plan proposes defunded the entirety of the TRIO SSS program. Additionally, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs are being cut around the country, which has led to the dissolution of over 100 TRIO chapters around the country.  

Despite the uncertainty this has created on campus and in Berry’s own TRIO program, student ambassadors and the program coordinators are still working hard to promote the group. According to Yazo, the ambassadors are contracting a newsletter, and have just started a monthly podcast series. Episodes will discuss various topics that are meant to educate, inform and entertain Berry students and TRIO scholars about some of the same material covered in workshops. 

TRIO at Berry has a dedicated staff and mission to help their scholars. No matter a person’s status, TRIO intends to make their time at Berry smoother and to provide a unique group of support that’s hard to find anywhere else on campus. While circumstances out of a student’s control can cause a difficult transition period into college, programs like TRIO help make a college education more accessible for everyone.

“If you want to maximize the efficiency of how you are studying, have fun and prepare yourself for post-college life, then TRIO would be an amazing place for you,” Barden said. 

Membership at TRIO has now been updated to a point system. Students who are interested in joining or that are currently apart of TRIO must retain a certain amount of hours attending meetings and events to join. If anyone is interested in joining a program that helps gives resources to make students at Berry more resilient, all they have to do is get involved. 

“The students we work with everyday are what make this program the special place and space that it is,” Director of TRIO Student Support Services Samantha Class said. “I love getting to know them, learning about their plans for the future and helping them figure out the steps they need to take in order to help make it happen.”