MECEO is the state organization of personnel from 41 federally funded TRIO programs based at more than 20 colleges, universities and community agencies that provide support services to eligible Maryland students. MECEO enjoys the distinction of being the first statewide organization of TRIO programs.

 

MECEO was initiated in 1968 and formed in 1969 by William A. Greene, Jr., director of Upward Bound at The Gilman School in Baltimore; Vernon L. Brown, director of TRIO programs at the Community College of Baltimore (now Baltimore City Community College); and Ellen D. Howard, director of Direct Search for Talent (Educational Talent Search). The organization was then known as the Metropolitan Executive Council for Educational Opportunity.

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In 1971, TRIO programs at the University of Maryland, College Park and Bowie State College (now Bowie State University) were invited to join the organization. At that time the name was changed to the Maryland Executive Council for Educational Opportunities (MECEO). Later, other TRIO programs within the state joined the organization and by 1973 all TRIO programs in the state were members.  In 1977, under the leadership of founder and first President Dr. Jerry Lewis, the Mid-Eastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (MEAEOPP) was established, representing state and district TRIO associations in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.