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Increasing Black Male Graduation Rates
Sewell is a active Brother in the Frat - See below.
Increasing Black Male Graduation Rates
University of West Georgia's learning community for African American men draws praise, criticism
By Tamara E. Holmes
Will African American males be more likely to graduate from college if they are given a separate-and more nurturing-environment than other students? That's the question a new learning community at the University of West Georgia hopes to answer.
Starting this fall, 25 black males will take core freshman classes, live in the same integrated dorm, and meet frequently to study and take part in other educational activities together for one year. The program, led by Said Sewell, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the university's department of political science and director of the Center for African American Male Research, Success, and Leadership, is designed to give black males extra encouragement to succeed in higher education and in life.
All of the university's black freshmen males were invited to apply for the program. According to Sewell, the 25 students that were chosen were not at the top or the bottom of the academic scale, but rather in the middle because “these are the persons who are critically on that fence, because they could go either way,” he says.
A great deal of attention has been given to the disparities between African Americans and whites in higher education. According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, the nationwide graduation rate of black students is 40%, compared to 61% for white students.
Beheruz N. Sethna, Ph.D., professor and president of the University of West Georgia, says the learning community reflects the school's sense of responsibility to increase the percentage of black college graduates. “The economic and noneconomic benefits [of graduating from college] are so significant,” Sethna says. “Unfortunately statistics show that black males graduate in lower proportions. If they do not graduate from college, they may be deprived of their legitimate share of these wonderful economic and other benefits.”
The university's efforts stem partly from a task force conducted three years ago by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The task force was charged with understanding enrollment, retention, and graduation patterns of black males in the University System of Georgia, and developing recommendations for improvement.
UWG has made efforts to support black male students in the past. Four years ago a program called Black Men With Initiative was launched” Also led by Sewell, the BMWI program provides males with a supportive environment that offers opportunities to network and take part in enrichment activities. Participants in the BMWI program will serve as mentors to the students in the learning community, says Terrence Lewis, 20, a senior and president of BMWI. The learning community and the BMWI program both fall under the domain of the university's Center for African American Male Research, Success, and Leadership, designed to address the education disparities.
“Coming to a predominantly white campus, I think it would be easy to get lost along the way,” says Milton Williams, an 18-year-old freshman in the program. “This is an opportunity to meet positive black men on campus. It's helpful to have that help and support system.”
While many interested observers are hopeful that the program will create positive results, some have reservations, particularly because the University of West Georgia is a predominantly white school.
“Even though it may be a sincere effort on the part of the administration to improve academic performance on the part of young African American males, the downside is it may reinforce stereotypes that black males, when put in the general body of students, can't learn,” says Earl Ofari Hutchinson, political analyst and author of The Assassination of the Black Male Image.
However, Sethna believes the potential benefits of the program far outweigh any criticisms. “The data shows that these benefits accrue not just to college graduate; but to their children as well. Hence, there is a generational effect.
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