Inaugural Black and Brown Conference Enlightens Young Males

More than 300 African American and Latino eighth-grade boys from five Inland Empire school districts are expected to attend the inaugural Black and Brown Conference at California State University, San Bernardino on Friday, Oct. 23. The free conference will be held at the campus’s Santos Manuel Student Union Events Center and will be from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Conference organizers say the gathering will be the first of its kind at CSUSB to be presented to this target audience. “Addressing the disparity in educational attainment for black and brown males is critical to the social and economic prosperity of our region and the U.S.,” says Edna Martinez, an assistant professor of educational leadership at CSUSB, and one of the conference organizers. In 2014 in San Bernardino County, just 21 percent of black males and 25 percent of Latino males graduated from high school having met the A-G requirements. On the other hand, young black females (31 percent), Latina females (33 percent), white males (33 percent) and white females (43 percent), all graduated from high school having taken more challenging courses and being better prepared to attend college. Likewise, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 12.4 percent of Latino men and 20.8 percent of black men ages 25-29 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 37.7 percent of white men. A 2013 study by the Campaign for College Opportunity found that black and brown males lag behind their female counterparts in college preparation, enrollment and completion as well. Felix Zuniga, director of project management and assessment at CSUSB and conference organizer, said they focused on eighth-grade young men because early college awareness and access is critical to improving college enrollment and degree completion for these historically underrepresented groups. “The eighth grade is a transition year for students as they start thinking about high school and the college preparatory courses they must take to enroll at the university upon high school graduation,” said Olivia Rosas, CSUSB associate vice president for enrollment management. CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales gave welcome remarks, followed by the keynote address given by two CSUSB professors: Wil Greer, assistant professor of education; and Louie Rodriguez, associate professor and co-director of the doctoral program in educational leadership. As products of the local public schools who both went on to earn doctorates in education, Greer and Rodriguez discussed their own educational journeys, the importance of recognizing excellence in their communities, and the significance of developing a scholar identity in their schools and communities. The participating school districts included Colton Joint Unified School District, Fontana Unified School District, Rialto Unified School District, San Bernardino City Unified School District and Victor Valley Joint Unified School District. The students were shuttled by school buses from the various school sites. Breakout workshops provided critical information to create educational pathways to college emphasizing the A-G admissions requirements and financial aid opportunities, along with self-identity workshops and campus tours. Students were provided lunch followed by a closing session highlighting CSUSB student mentors who participated as workshop facilitators. CSUSB is nationally recognized for its leadership role in changing the face of U.S. higher education. A reflection of the region’s dynamic diversity, CSUSB, which has the most diverse student population of any university in the Inland Empire, and the second highest African American and Latino enrollments of all public universities in California, is considered a model of access and excellence in higher education. Hispanic Outlook in Higher education ranked Cal State San Bernardino 17th in the nation in awarding bachelor’s degrees to Latinos. Some of the objectives the organizers hoped to achieve included providing early college awareness and college preparedness information to increase the number of African American and Latino males who enroll and graduate from college, providing additional tools for young men of color to chart their path to post-secondary education, promoting self-identity development, helping to foster a sense of belonging, and establishing ongoing mentor/mentee relationships, among others.