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Introspect Youth Services Celebrates 50 Years of Providing College Opportunities on Chicago’s West Side

November 17, 2025 — by Holly Hexter

Introspect You Services TRIO participants on a college visit a Dillard University in Louisiana.

A community-based organization providing college opportunity to youth Chicago is marking an important milestone this year.

Located on Chicago’s West Side, Introspect Youth Services houses eight federal TRIO programs and serves about 3,000 students per year, according to co-founder and executive director Bernard Clay. Those programs include six Upward Bound programs and two Talent Search programs. The service area has grown to cover about one-third of the city.

Clay estimates that over the last 50 years, he and other staff have enabled 74,000 youth and young adults to access postsecondary education. Included among his most distinguished alumni is Cornelius Griggs , President and CEO of GMA Construction Group, a multi-million dollar construction firm based out of Chicago, with additional offices in Texas and New York.  An alumnus of Introspect Youth Services’ Talent Search program and Chicago State University’s McNair Scholars program, Griggs was recognized by COE as a National TRIO Achiever in 2013 and served as the Chair of COE’s Educational Opportunity Dinner in 2025 in Chicago.

Introspect Youth Services’ record of success has made their outreach easier in some ways, because the programs are known in the community, Clay says. “Longevity is meaningful.”

Clay has seen some changes in the West Garfield Park community he serves over the years. “Some issues—housing and food insecurity—have intensified. Social and emotional learning issues have become more extensive,” he says.

Reflecting on the area’s history, Clay stated, “[T] he West Side of Chicago has had disinvestment since the riots in the 60s. You’ve seen industry leave, you’ve seen businesses leave, you’ve seen people leave. We’re still in a quagmire, trying to get the community to a different economic level.”  Unfortunately, Clay says, about 80 percent of the youth they help enter college do not return to the community after completing their educations.

Introspect Youth Services grew out of activities Clay was leading at the Boy Scouts Explorer Post. As a leader, he was still in school himself, but he was already helping students get the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (BEOG), the precursor of the Pell Grant.

Clay credits TRIO educator and legend Silas Purnell with giving him the impetus to start his own program. Purnell had spoken to Clay’s group at the Explorer Post, and after Clay graduated from college and began working at the state Department of Corrections, Purnell handed him a college catalog and said, “You can do this [college advising] on your own.”

From 1975 to 1977, the organization was housed at Garfield Park Mental Health Center. When the Center closed, Clay moved boxes into his own living room and started helping students with college applications there.

Introspect Youth Services moved into a converted rectory in December 1977, where it has remained ever since. Clay estimates that his programs have provided 45 years of continuous service, interrupted only for two weeks “due to a heavy snowstorm.”

So, five decades after co-founding Introspect, what gets Bernard Clay up in the morning?

“The kids. We just had a group of 40 kids come back super hyped from a trip to visit colleges in the South,” he enthuses. The group visited a wide range of schools, including Kentucky State University and Tulane University.

“That’s the beauty of TRIO. We expose kids to opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. It gives the students possibilities. Most of them take the opportunities we give them and excel.”

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