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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CAMPUS
Black Men's Union targets graduation rates representation of black student community
REID EGGLESTON
@ReidEggleston
Inspired by a similar and successful initiative at Yale University, the Black Men's Union will begin meeting this September to approach the specific needs of the University's black male population.
The organization has its sights on augmenting the currently projected four-year national graduation rate of 18 percent for black males, according to Caleb Bobo, a junior from St. Louis and founder of the Black Men's Union. The University's most recent count notched the four-year graduation rate for Caucasian students at 40 percent.
Bobo believes in inspiring the black male community to become successful students and that a fair amount of campus lobbying are the solutions to this issue.
"It's hard for a black student to find a place at this predominantly white school," Bobo said. "But I think fostering the next wave of African American leaders makes this challenge a little bit easier to tackle. A strong black male community makes for a better KU."
A highlight of the group is their mentorship program, which pairs freshmen and sophomores with upperclassmen in order to help them navigate the byways of collegiate success.
The Black Student Union, another prominent black social group focused on community building, offered a similar mentorship program to its
attendees in the past, matching students based on proximity and plans of study, but Bobo asserts the fraternal nature of the new group will bolster this initiative's foundations.
Kareem Wall, a junior from Charleston, S.C., and the group'sdirector of membership, is enthralled at the opportunity to provide the support he wishes hed received when he arrived at the University.
"I can actually be a part of someone's personal change," he said. "I want to make KU closer to home for everyone."
"At the end of the day, we're always going to support each other because we're such a small community at KU."
KAT RAINEY Senior from Shawnee
Wall, responsible for the launch of the mentorship program, found himself in an academic mire after his sophomore year at KU.
"When I came here as an out-of-state freshman, I struggled. I mean, I knew no one, and I felt like I had no connection to the school," Wall said. "This led to my dismissal from KU. Then I came back and got more involved. I think it has put me in a position to share my personal experiences for other black men who feel out of place."
In order to embed this sense of belonging into the black male community, the Black Men's Union will offer monthly
activities, including speaking engagements from prominent members of the local black community and social events, as well as a banquet honoring black women for their successes at the University.
And while the club's founding year brings with it the pursuit of diverse avenues of exploration, the group does have a unifying goal.
"We've found that African Americans are often great leaders within the black community, but we want to expose African American males to the rest of the KU community," Bobo said.
To his point, Bobo, a member of Student Senate and the Student Alumni Leadership Board, finds black representation on these bodies sparse. He is one of only three black participants currently on the Student Endowment Board.
Devante Green, a senior from Lawrence, agrees that "if our black men dwindle any more, the definition of what it means to be a Jayhawk changes."
Beyond this, there are a number of issues that pose barriers to the Black Men's Union's success, principally that of funding.
Unless the KU Black Alumni chapter donates a large chunk of money, Bobo sees the lion's share of the group's funding coming from students themselves. Still, he is optimistic that those who benefited from black community organizations in the University's past will rise to the occasion and share Bobo's vision.
"We've had a huge response from the KU Black Alumni chapter, whose members often did what we'd like our members to do." Bobo said. "They transferred from being students into having professional careers in law and medicine, among other things."
The Union also gains from shared resources that the interwoven black community at the University provides.
"The black student groups are very intertwined and all members have a hand in some other organization," Wall said.
In accordance with Wall, Kat Rainey, a senior from Shawnee and former leader of the Black Student Union, acknowledges the importance of minority student groups sharing a common vision.
"At the end of the day, we're always going to support each other because we're such a small community at KU," she said, referring to the University's black population, which currently composes only four percent of the student body, according to collegeportraits.org.
Rainey notes that black men make up only about 30 percent of the Black Student Union, and that their underrepresentation even within the black community necessitates the founding of the Black Men's Union.
The group is optimistic for a successful maiden year, particularly in light of interest accrued through Twitter, with 135 followers, and Facebook, with 97 likes.
Edited by Sarah Kramer
Caleb Bobo, a junior from St. Louis, is the president and founder of the Black Men's Union at the University.
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Black Men's Union Monthly Activities
-Talks by prominent black community leaders
-Social events
-Banquet honoring the University's successful African American women
First meeting on Sept. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in Ellsworth Hall
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