A Call to Action, A Call to Serve
Greetings!
We hope this message finds you well, and in great spirit!
The President’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion secured a grant through SUNY Central’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We were awarded the maximum amount to support a diversity initiative. As a result, this grant will allow us to provide an academic year of focused, culturally responsive and academically supportive programs that assist incoming male students of color (50 in all) beginning this fall. In order to kick this initiative off, we are planning a “Men of Excellence Conference,” which will specifically focus on supporting male students of color to and through college. The conference will take place from the evening of August 25th and all day August 26th.
You are receiving this message because we need you! We need your gifts, your talents, and we need your support to commit to this critical initiative supporting our future men of color collegians at SUNY Broome. More specifically, we are asking you to volunteer to build mentoring relationships with these male scholars of color. To properly begin the process of relationship building between you and these young men, we would (ask / require) you to attend the, “Men of Excellence” Conference, during which you would be expected to participate in a particular workshop designed to help you learn how to support these students. Research tells us that mentoring and personal relationships helps to foster a sense of belonging which is vitally important to the success of this student demographic.
You may be asking yourself, what will it take for me to be a “mentor?” Am I qualified? Do I have enough time to wholeheartedly commit to this critical initiative? To assist you as you reflect, we have some suggested, but not limited to, expectations below.
Mentor Expectations:
- Meet with your mentee(s) at least twice a month
- Serve as a role model/support throughout the semester (e.g., connect them to resources on campus)
- Be open to the possibility of facilitating culturally sensitive student success workshops
- Foster intentional, and meaningful relationships with male students of color