What is Veritas?

Mission, Purpose & Vision

Mission

To develop leaders and drive economic mobility through accelerated academic and career-driven training, placing students on a pathway to prestigious colleges and impactful careers.

Purpose

To help close the opportunity and achievement gaps by providing higher-level academic and professional development training that makes students ultra-competitive in college admissions and the workforce.

Vision

Veritas envisions a cutting-edge multicultural institution that cultivates exceptionally skilled and empathetic leaders trained to solve the most pressing issues in society. This vision involves crafting a curriculum and environment that mirrors the spectrum of diverse people, cultures, and ideas that exist in our world.

What is Veritas?

Veritas is a nonprofit network of pre-collegiate Saturday schools for gifted and talented youth in grades 5-7 (Veritas Preparatory Program) and grades 8-12 (Veritas Debate Institute).  Through a suite of program offerings, Veritas provides accelerated academic and career development training to place students on a pathway to prestigious colleges and impactful careers.

Veritas proudly welcomes students from all backgrounds, ethnicities, and walks of life.

Veritas Highlights

Step into the latest moments from Veritas. From travel and events to graduations and everything in between, these videos give you a front-row seat to the experiences shaping our community.

YEAR ONE: Saturday School + Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops (Grades 8-12)

Students accepted into Veritas first complete a full year of academic training in Atlanta through the nationally-acclaimed Veritas Debate Institute (VDI) where they learn a variety of college-level survey courses such as philosophy, political science, sociology, economics, and more. 

The school year culminates with an international summer residential debate program at Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops (HDCSW) in Cambridge, MA, where Veritas scholars study for two weeks alongside hundreds of gifted youth from around the world. The summer program concludes with an academic debate competition on campus. Veritas has won an international academic debate competition at HDCSW for six consecutive years (every year since the program’s inception in 2017).

AFTER YEAR ONE: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING (Grades 8-12)

Following the one-year VDI academic program, Veritas scholars become alumni who receive access to programming (throughout high school & college) that is designed to first make them competitive in the college admissions process and then the workforce. Veritas provides monthly training and experiences that equip our alumni with exceptional professional skills and robust resumes. The monthly programming is hybrid, taking place both in person and virtually. 

The additional programs include: 

  • Veritas Global Travel Program
  • Veritas Corporate Immersion Program
  • Veritas Career Readiness Program

VERITAS PREPARATORY PROGRAM (Grades 5-7)

Veritas Prep is a Saturday school for high-achieving students in grades 5-7. Veritas Prep exists for parents who want their children to go beyond what’s taught in regular school and explore more advanced learning at an earlier age to promote accelerated academic and social development.

College-Level Training

8th - 12th-grade students accepted into Veritas begin with our flagship program, Veritas Debate Institute, which includes 11 months of weekly Saturday school where students are taught philosophy, political science, sociology, humanities, rhetoric, debate, and literary criticism among other college-level disciplines. Courses are taught by Veritas alumni alongside nationally acclaimed educator Brandon P. Fleming who is a former Harvard debate coach, award-winning author, renowned speaker, and President & CEO of Veritas.

Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops

Veritas Debate Institute concludes with the Harvard Debate Council’s summer program in Cambridge, MA. Alongside hundreds of gifted youth worldwide, Veritas scholars reside and study on campus for two weeks. Students are taught by award-winning coaches from elite institutions who comprise the faculty at the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops. The summer program culminates in a debate competition that Veritas scholars have won for seven consecutive years.

Career Readiness Training

Upon successful completion of Veritas Debate Institute, the focus shifts from academic to professional skills training. Scholars are given access to monthly alumni programming that is designed to advance their professional skills, build robust resumes, and prepare them for prestigious colleges and careers.

Our Cohorts

Explore past cohorts from our Veritas Debate Institute, from 2018 and beyond.

What we Teach

During the weekly Saturday school sessions, Veritas teaches a variety of social science-based survey courses including:

  • Philosophy
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Humanities
  • Rhetoric
  • Literary Criticism
  • Debate
  • Economics

Who is Veritas For?

Veritas is an accelerated learning program for gifted and talented students in grade 5-12.  Veritas is for students seeking access to higher-level academic training that will challenge them beyond the rigors of a traditional school setting. The ideal candidate is motivated to achieve the highest levels of academic excellence in pursuit of prestigious colleges and careers.

Applications for the next Veritas cohort open each year on February 1st.

If you are a student who would like to become a Veritas scholar, apply at
www.theveritasschools.org/apply

Our Programs

Our Why

Too often, many youth are not given access to high-quality educational opportunities that will make them competitive for college admissions and the workforce. This opportunity gap creates an achievement gap that swells into the wealth gap that we see in America. We are closing that gap and creating generational wealth by positioning students to become high earners and impactful leaders.

Our History

Veritas was founded in 2017 by Brandon P. Fleming, an award-winning author, educator, and former Harvard debate coach, as a program called Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, a subsidiary of the Harvard Debate Council. As an assistant debate coach, Fleming identified the need for more representation of Black and brown students in the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshop, understanding how such prestigious academic opportunities impact students’ chances to earn acceptance into elite colleges and universities. Fleming founded the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project to create access for Black youth from Atlanta to study and compete at the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops.

The Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project (now The Veritas Schools) was designed as a weekly Saturday school to equip Atlanta youth with higher-level academic training to prepare them to compete on an international stage at the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops (HDCSW). Since 2017, seven cohorts of Veritas scholars have won an international academic debate competition at HDCSW for seven consecutive years, outperforming hundreds of gifted youth from over 25 countries worldwide. As a result, Veritas alumni have been accepted into top colleges and universities worldwide.

Since 2017, Veritas has more than tripled the size of its student body from 25 to over 100 to accommodate the growing demand in the community.  As demand has now grown nationwide, Veritas is scaling to create a network of Saturday schools in major cities across the country.

Our Founder, President & CEO

Over the past decade, Brandon P. Fleming has emerged as one of the most awarded and sought-after educators, entrepreneurs, authors, and speakers worldwide. Fleming’s incredible story of transformation, detailed in his book Miseducated, has gained such national acclaim that it is currently being optioned for television and film, and is in the process of becoming a major theatrical production.

An at-risk youth and college dropout turned award-winning educator, Fleming is a former debate coach at Harvard University and Founder & CEO of The Veritas Schools, a network of schools headquartered in Atlanta, GA, with campuses expanding to Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

In 2017, Fleming was recruited as a debate coach at the Harvard Debate Council at the age of 26. Fleming soon made history by founding the first pipeline program, the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, aimed at increasing Black and brown enrollment in the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops, which is an international summer program on campus where hundreds of talented young scholars from over 25 different countries study and compete in academic debate competitions.  

Over seven years, Fleming has raised millions of dollars to enroll more than 250 students of color in the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops on full scholarship. However, Fleming faced a significant challenge: How could he prepare Black and brown youth from predominantly under-resourced schools in Atlanta, who had never been exposed to the rigors of academic debate, to compete in just one year against some of the most elite debaters from around the world? Fleming developed a transformative curriculum designed to level the playing field for underserved students. And it worked. For seven consecutive years, since the program’s inception in 2017, every cohort trained by Fleming has won the international competition as seven-time consecutive champions. News of this accomplishment has gone viral, making national headlines and being featured on CNN, Good Morning America, the Steve Harvey Show, and more. Fleming’s vision has garnered support from Fortune 100 companies, including The Coca-Cola Company, UPS, Chick-fil-A, and others. 

Beyond the classroom, Fleming’s humanitarian impact reaches around the globe. Fleming has earned awards for his global leadership. Fleming has facilitated and led peace-building missions for over 200 world leaders to Israel, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates. His school also emphasizes international education, taking students on learning expeditions to countries like Italy, Japan, South Africa, and more.

As a renowned speaker, Fleming has delivered keynote addresses on world stages like the United Nations. Fleming has spoken at the nation’s most prestigious colleges, universities, and K-12 conferences. Additionally, Fleming has keynoted conventions for corporate executives at major brands such as Airbnb, Walmart, Bank of America, McDonald’s, and many others. 

At the age of 29, Forbes Magazine named Fleming to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.  In 2020, The Root Magazine named Fleming one of the top 100 most influential African Americans in the United States.  And in May 2021, North Carolina Wesleyan College bestowed upon Fleming the honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

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