Some campus student leaders see an alarming trend -- minorityleaders on campus are graduating, and for the most part, minorityfreshmen are not filling the ranks.
Latrell Armstrong, senior communications major, is trying tostop this trend by founding Empowered Men of Color to mentor andnurture freshmen men into roles of leadership.
"Our University thrives on diversity, and that's one thing (TheUniversity of Memphis) promotes when recruiting. If we are topromote diversity, we should increase it," said Armstrong, EMOCpresident.
The organization will try to deal with and help minoritystudents try to deal with any obstacle that is in their way, hesaid.
"We must do something to keep minorities in leadership,"Armstrong said.
And that includes promoting minority retention through workshopsand forums to stay in school, said Lonnie Latham, EMOC facultyadvisor.
Male minority students are in the greatest danger of droppingout of school than any other student group, Latham said.
"Men of color have been dropping out at an alarming rate," andfor this reason, Latham, associate dean of students of MinorityAffairs, spearheaded the creation of EMOC.
"We will work with the Educational Support Program, and thesenior members will also help," Armstrong said, adding that thegroup will teach young minority men leadership skills as basic asfilling out forms to actually running an organization.
Along with mentoring programs, universities must provideretention services, said Nicholas Centino, Student of Colordiversity project director for the United States StudentAssociation.
First generation college students tend to drop out because theycannot draw on the experience of family members who have attendedcollege and can answer questions, Centino said, adding thatminority leaders must be role models to freshmen on how to maneuverwhen dealing with administration when putting on programs orgetting things done.
Minority students have a harder time getting involved on campusbecause for the most part there is a lack of diversity, in studentleadership positions, Centino said.
When minority students do get involved in leadership positionsto address the lack of diversity by doing so, they create thediversity they are seeking, Centino said.
There is trade off between leadership and school and work, headded, because to be a good leader requires time and effort.
Time management is very important, especially for minoritystudents, who many times must overcome more obstacles than theirwhite counterparts, said Centino.
"We are not here to provide (members) with dances, or parties,"Latham said. "This is a serious organization that will turn outminority leaders."
EMOC will try to be involved as a mentoring program from thestudent's freshman semester until he graduates, helping them chooseclasses and ultimately helping them with career decisions. Thegroup will also invite prominent minority business and civil rightsleaders from Memphis to speak to the members, Armstrong said.
The first meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 2 p.m. in theUniversity Center, Room 310F.
