Southland College Prep Seniors Find ‘Lane’ for Colleges, Universities

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Robert Lane, Southland College counselor – protégé of Chicago icon Silas Parnell – makes dreams come true for today’s college bound

A first-generation college student raised by a single mother, Robert Lane says that he knows firsthand "how a college education can transform lives, families and communities—especially for students of color."

Lane is the director of college admissions at Southland College Prep Charter High School in Richton Park, Illinois. The school was founded in 2010 and every year since its first graduating class in 2014, Southland, whose enrollment is not selective but chosen by an annual lottery, has had a 100 percent college acceptance rate.

More than 90 percent of the Class of 2023, Southland's tenth graduating class, has been accepted to college and this Friday will be another step along the journey to finding the right school for each student as Southland celebrates the University of Illinois admissions announcement.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the top universities in the country that Southland students choose to attend and as a college counselor, Lane encourages them to apply to and consider what he calls the state's "flagship university."

"These college admissions represent hope for the future of not just these students and their families, but for our communities in the south suburbs," Lane said.

Lane was raised on Chicago's South Side–but like many young African-American boys, grew up oblivious to the University of Chicago, a world-class institution minutes away from his Woodlawn neighborhood. He met one of his first mentors in the Ida B. Wells housing project – educator and community activist Silas Parnell. Thanks to guidance from Parnell, Lane ultimately went on to earn degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Notre Dame.

Knowing the transformative power of education fuels Lane to find the best places for not only Southland students, but also other families who seek his help in guiding their children to college, just like Purnell did for him.

Since Southland's first commencement class in 2014, graduates have been accepted to all of the top ten national universities in the U.S. and 48 of the top 50 national universities in the country, including all eight Ivy League schools and 8 of the top 10 ranked liberal arts colleges. Also, Southland graduates have been admitted to every major four-year public Illinois university and several Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

"You have to see what you want to be," Lane said. "Many students in underserved communities have never stepped foot on a college campus."

With that in mind, every fall, Southland takes the entire junior class to Lane's alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, where he earned his master's degree, for a fully immersive experience.

This year, the college visit tour was expanded to sophomores visiting Northwestern University and the freshman class going to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Admissions to the top schools are important," Lane said. "But equally important is that every student finds a school that is right for them."