At the Louisiana Summit for African-American Male Educational Success, LSU President F. King Alexander said the educational success of African-American and Latino men is a national issue that is not getting the attention it deserves.
The biannual summit was held Thursday in Dalton Woods Auditorium in the Energy, Coast and Environment Building. Guest speakers for panels and workshops included Alexander and other prominent professors from across the country.
Education assistant professor Roland Mitchell founded the first summit in 2012. Mitchell said his inspiration for the summit was Kofi Lomotey and his vision to mentor young African-American men.
An award was given in Lomotey’s name to University professor Isaiah Warner. He is the first to receive this award.
Mitchell said he was frustrated with the fact that when someone mentions attributes like black and male, they think of prison. Though the summit focused on African-American male educational success, Mitchell said he is trying to move away from that narrative.
“The same approaches African-American males need to be successful are the exact same types of services that all students need. When they excel, we all excel,” Mitchell said.
Alexander and Mitchell agreed that the University’s duty starts before freshman year with the Office of Multicultural Affairs’ Preview Day and ends with doctoral degrees.
“LSU has figured out the problem of black male educational success. Our enrollment number of colored students constantly rises,” Mitchell said. “We have the blueprint.”
Alexander said the initiative of African-American males is part of the University’s success.
“Women previously led in numbers dealing with educational success, and males should match that number,” Alexander said.
Community members as well as high school students were present at the summit. McKinley Senior High School students participated in the interactive panels.
David Stovall, associate professor of educational policy studies and African-American studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told students they are not the future.
“I get mad when people say you are the future. You are never the future. You are always the right now,” Stovall said.
Stovall said he advises students to ask deeper questions, and by asking deeper questions, people can engage education on their own terms.
The Black Male Leadership Initiative, which comprises University students, hosted an interactive panel at lunch.
BMLI graduate coordinator Vincent Harris said BMLI’s main goal was to use the summit to share and discuss the impact the program’s “fellows” have had on the community and how it has improved their professional trajectory on- and off-campus.
“The summit is a way to discuss systematic and institutional biases and legal issues that not only affect men of color but, in turn, affects LSU as a whole,” Harris said.
Harris said BMLI’s purpose is to participate in activities that improve graduation rates. Black males involved in BMLI and similar programs return and graduate at higher rates than black students who don’t.
Alexander said the University strives to improve underrepresented populations on campus.
“The University needs to lead a state in understanding developments and changes on a global stage. If we resist and look backwards instead of forwards, then we are not serving the flagship role we play as a great university,” Alexander said.
The next summit will take place in 2016.