Empowering Men of Color on Campus – Building Student Community in Higher Education

While recruitment efforts toward men of color have increased at many colleges and universities, their retention and graduation rates still lag behind those of their white peers. Men of color, particularly black and Latino men, face a number of unique challenges in their educational careers that often impact their presence on campus and inhibit their collegiate success. Empowering Men of Color on Campus examines how men of color negotiate college through their engagement in Brothers for United Success (B4US), an institutionally-based male-centered program at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark, and Matthew Smith introduce the concept of educational agency, which is harbored in cultural wealth and demonstrates how ongoing B4US engagement empowers the men’s efforts and abilities to persist in college. They found that the cultural wealth(s) of the community enhanced the students’ educational agency, which bolstered their academic aspirations, academic and social engagement, and personal development. The authors demonstrate how educational agency and cultural wealth can be developed and refined given salient and meaningful immersions, experiences, engagements, and communal connections. 

DERRICK R. BROOMS is an associate professor of sociology and Africana Studies at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He is the author of Being Black, Being Male on Campus: Understanding and Confronting Black Male Collegiate Experiences.

JELISA CLARK is a visiting assistant professor of sociology at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.

MATTHEW SMITH is a doctoral student in the School of Educational Studies program at Claremont Graduate University in California. He is also the director of Educational Partnerships at California State University Dominquez Hills.