My Passion

I am passionate about the resilience and success of low-income ethnic minority urban youth and families.

I was a low-income ethnic minority urban youth.

When you find happiness, you kinda wish it for others too.

I am working with a dream team of fabulous colleagues to develop a minority male mentoring program for college freshman.

Thinking about, talking about, reading about, and writing about helping minority male college students succeed feels great - like mainlining a shot of hope.

The Challenge:

• The nation is approaching a point in the future — estimated to be 2050 — when minorities will constitute a collective majority.
• The U.S. Census Bureau projects that more than half the nation's children will be members of minorities by 2023, and that members of minority groups are expected to make up 54 percent of the nation's population by 2050.
• Only 26 percent of blacks, 18 percent of Latin@s, and 26 percent of American Indians complete postsecondary degrees — with the percentages even lower among men.
• Educational attainment by minority males lags in comparison with minority women and Whites.
• African-American males are almost half the inmate population and Hispanics constitute 20 percent of that population. Among Asian-Americans, the most vulnerable population are the males of Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander descent in comparison with those of Northeast Asian descent.
• 2010 College Board Report recommendation: K-12 schools, colleges, universities and state higher education agencies should develop partnerships to help minority males gain preparation and succeed in college.

Check this out: Based on US demographic projections,Whites will go from the majority (65%) in 2010 to the minority (46%) in 2050. People don't tend to give up power in order to share it easily.

Check this out: People of color - Latin@ (30%), Black (12%), Asian (8%) and Other (4%) - will make up the majority (54%) in 2050, if and only if, we band together. Together we are powerful. Divided, the 46% White minority retain a numerical advantage over individual groups of color. Now I understand the efforts to divide and conquer. Don't let the Man break us up! If we all banded together than we would truly be powerful - like 100% powerful.

What we know works...

• A nursing college developed a multifaceted program to promote ethnic minority and male students' success. Students engaged in mentoring, academic support, and service-learning activities. Participants (N = 51) achieved 100% retention and graduation rates.
• A recent evaluation of the Men of Color Initiative at DePaul University (serving 200 low-income, first generation college students) showed promising results. A prime indicator that students will persist to graduation is that they earn at least a 2.5 GPA and at least 48 credit hours by the end of freshman year. Initiative participants achieved those benchmarks at a higher rate than men of color on campus who did not participate.

What we know about the gaps...

• Male students who are members of minority groups continue to face overwhelming obstacles to pursuing their academic aspirations. The result is a little-talked-about "third America" that is predominantly male, largely incapable of contributing to society, and often destined to be incarcerated. 
• The crisis has been overlooked by much of society, but is shared by male students across minority backgrounds. Its common themes include a lack of male role models, a search for respect outside of education, the sense of a failing education system, poverty, language barriers, community pressures, and a loss of cultural memory.
• Findings in one study suggest that most African American and Latino participants have social networks that are inefficient, disrupted, and fractured resulting in prominent informational gaps about college-related information.
• Male students are less likely to use counseling services than female students.
• “We know students with untreated mental health disorders do worse educationally, from lower grades to delayed graduation to dropping out.” Dr. Bradley Stein, senior scientist at RAND.