Young Black Males Convene at SIUE for Leadership Conference
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Young black men were selected to attend a two-day leadership conference on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
The first day of the conference involved 35 high school students from Edwardsville, East St. Louis, and St. Louis. The second day involved 45 college students from SIUE.
“The purpose was to bring black men together and get their views about the SIUE campus climate, to build relationships with black SIUE faculty and staff and to teach leadership,” said Michael Jones, academic advisor with SIUE’s Student Opportunities for Academic Results (SOAR).
Jones devised the idea of a conference for young black men, and worked with Dr. Howard Rambsy, associate professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, and Dr. Earleen Patterson, director of SOAR.
About 50 black males from area high schools attended the Leadership Conference on Tuesday.
“We had sessions led by SIUE black students about leadership,” Jones said. “We also had a book fair, in which the high school students were able to pick from African American books that had been donated. The purpose of the book fair was to broaden their literary exposure and language arts skills.”
On Wednesday, about 50 SIUE students attended the conference. The special guest for the day was Dr. Brian Johnson, president of Tuskegee University.
SIUE students attended team building and leadership exercises led by University black male staff LaVeasey Carter, Brandon Guthrie, and Donte Howard. Later, SIUE students attended a discussion with Johnson.
Photos:
Dr. Brian Johnson, president of Tuskegee University.
Students attended a Black Male Leadership Conference at SIUE. Front row from left to right are: Dr. Howard Rambsy, associate professor in the SIUE Department of English Language and Literature, Dr. Brian Johnson, president of Tuskegee University, and Michael Jones, academic advisor with SIUE’s Student Opportunities for Academic Results (SOAR).
