Men of Color – On-Demand Training

Campus-wide Intentional Strategies to Support, Engage & Persist

Countless men of color are perpetually battling against perceived educational inferiority, racial bias/profiling both on and off campus, social media attacks and pervasive negative racial stereotyping. Institutions need to be proactive in their approach to create a more welcoming environment and ensure these men are supported by recognizing the unique differences, experiences, and struggles they face. The more inclusive and equitable your campus community is, the better your recruitment, retention, engagement, and persistence of men of color will be.

What real changes must we make to be more culturally competent and responsive to the needs of male students of color?
What can YOU do to be more than an ally and truly advocate for their success?

Our presenter addresses these questions and the challenges that your male students of color face daily while offering ways to develop campus-wide strategies to increase their success through engagement and retention efforts both in and out of the classroom. He addresses the effect of current events and how they impact your men of color and ways your institution can overcome those challenges to create a culturally competent and responsive community that values and supports their unique needs.

Gather your colleagues from across campus and engage in a valuable discussion on how to better support your men of color by being more than an ally and truly advocating on their behalf. Ensure that your institution provides strategies and programs that make men of color feel valued, safe, and supported throughout their educational experience.

Topics Covered

As a result of this webinar, you will be able to:

• Identify the unique challenges men of color experience in higher education – develop institutionalized support systems that address their academic, social, financial, professional, and emotional needs. 
• Create a culturally competent and responsive campus community for your male students of color – foster a collaborative and proactive approach to address campus culture and environment prior to their arrival to ensure that their experiences mirror your institutions’ mission and values.
• Facilitate critical conversations with key stakeholders on your campus to make resources available to assist men of color - ensure your institution is truly responsive to the needs of your students and take intentional action to address and positively impact their experiences so that they succeed and graduate.
• Recognize the continuous impact to students of color on campus and allow safe opportunities for them to express themselves through interactive touch points every week – avoid silencing their voices, continued marginalization, low retention and increased disapproval ratings.
• Foster partnerships for additional assistance in educating and changing student/faculty/staff behavior – understand the effects of racial profiling – real or perceived- to be inclusive and decrease marginalization of these students.
• Explore the various ways formal and informal mentorship supports men of color – review theories and trends of today that will serve as a framework for your mentor-mentee relationships (peer to peer; staff/faculty), so you can better guide your students toward engagement, success, and graduation.

Presenter

George William Whitfield is currently a CARE Manager at Cleveland State University. He has facilitated program, workshops, and presentations at regional, national conferences and consults with various nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities around retention, Black Lives Matter Movement, marginalized groups, and the needs for men of color.
Click here for full bio.