海角直播

Publish Date: March 19, 2020

海角直播 recently sent six students to the A2MEND African American Male Education Network and Development summit. The summit is an organization dedicated to fostering 鈥渋nstitutional change within the community college system鈥� and is made up of African American male administrators drawn from a state-wide network of schools who are committed to investing in student leadership. 海角直播 provided the funding for the students Robbie Brown, Richard Kearns, Tyrone Ross, Michael Taylor, Jonathan Taylor, and Solange Morris to attend the conference in Los Angeles earlier this month. Students got the chance to network with other students and staff, attend a college fair, and engage with several featured speakers and more. Paddock commented that these students 鈥渁re representative of the best we have to offer on our campus鈥� adding that 鈥渨e鈥檙e just very excited to have them here on campus and thrilled that we can continue to support [..] their development as scholars and leaders.鈥�

The six men attended a large college fair at the conference. Tyrone Ross, Student President and Communications Major who is set to transfer to the school of his choice this year, was impressed with the caliber of the fair. It 鈥渨as absolutely amazing鈥� Ross said, going on to state that 鈥渆very UC,鈥� 鈥渁ll the Cal States in SoCal,鈥� as well as the Historically Black Colleges of 鈥淗oward, Hampton, and Morehouse鈥� were there. Ross joked that he spoke to everyone and even helped other students examine their options. 鈥淚t gave me a reassurance that I鈥檓 doing the right thing,鈥� Ross said, and that 鈥渋t was very helpful for me to go.鈥� His fellow student, Richard Kearns, who plans to earn a doctorate in Psychology, agreed and commented that he realized that 鈥渢his is how it鈥檚 going to start鈥� and that attending this event 鈥渨as like a shot in the arm鈥� for his career as a scholar. Michael Taylor agreed with Kearns when he said that is was a motivating experience to be around 鈥�800 positive black men,鈥� and that it reminded Taylor that students like him need to 鈥渆xplore their options鈥� and continue to 鈥渂e open-minded.鈥�  

Students engaged with the ideas and inspirational leadership of several featured speakers during the conference. Jonathan Taylor, a student of Computer Science at 海角直播 who has set his sights on transferring to Cal State LA to study Cyber Security, said that this aspect of the conference was 鈥渓ife-changing鈥� and joked that he 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 shut [his] mouth when [he] got back home.鈥� Part of Taylor鈥檚 excitement had to do with rubbing shoulders with New York Times best-selling author Ibram X. Kendi, whose new book How to Be an Antiracist, 鈥渟erved,鈥� in Taylor鈥檚 words, 鈥渁s the basis for the entire conference.鈥� Described by The New York Times as 鈥渢he most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind,鈥� Kendi seems to have made an impression on the student attendees. Kearns, studying psychology at 海角直播, was inspired by Kendi鈥檚 example, and said that the 鈥渆ye-opening鈥� message he took from it was that, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e gonna have people try and block you,鈥� but that ultimately you can overcome those obstacles if you鈥檙e determined enough. 鈥淚 think we sell ourselves short,鈥� Kearns said, but 鈥渨e can do whatever we want to do.鈥�

Back on campus the head of Student Life expressed her hope that this 鈥渋nvestment in [the students鈥橾 leadership skills and abilities鈥� will transfer to 鈥渃hanges that they will make when they return.鈥� When asked about the changes they鈥檇 like to see on campus the students were unanimous in their recognition of the need for something significant. 鈥淚f we could bring something back,鈥� Kearns said, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 gotta be more than a club; it鈥檚 gotta be something that can move mountains.鈥� The students brought up the idea of starting a Umoja Program on campus.

The Umoja Program is a statewide program dedicated to fostering the success of African American and other students. 海角直播鈥檚 sister school, Valley College, has such a program in place, but 海角直播 does not. 海角直播 Hills President Kevin Horan was supportive of the students鈥� idea, saying that 鈥渢hese are the kind of spaces we want to create on campus鈥� and that 鈥渨e can absolutely support鈥� a program like that. Student President Ross agreed with Horan, stating that, 鈥渨e鈥檙e moving in the right direction [...] when it comes to setting up something like鈥�. One thing seems certain and that is that 海角直播 will continue to invest in student leadership on these matters.