This spring, the Black Male Initiative at Birmingham-Southern welcomed its inaugural class, providing a space for mentorship and growth among Black men on campus.

The inaugural class includes Byron Millsap, Elijah Ealey, Jordan Jones, Kyle Kimble, Demarcus Sweet, Tre Butler, Reece Weaver, Matt Dale, Jon Lewis, Kendall Johnson, and Kobe Martin, who have all worked closely with Dr. Brandon Brown, advisor for the Black Male Initiative and associate dean of students, to form the organization. Students were honored during a pinning ceremony in February and will be inducted May 9.

“My role as advisor has simply been to provide a space for Black male students to simply be – to be themselves and engage with one another in an open an honest way,” Brown says. “As Black men on a predominately White campus, it is not every day that they have this opportunity, so every other Monday since early February, we have met for a Brother-to-Brother meeting, or we went out to spend time together.”

Through meetings and social gatherings, the Black Male Initiative focuses on academic, emotional, social, professional, and personal well-being. Brown says that, since he began working at the College in 2018, he saw the need for a community within Birmingham-Southern that would foster fellowship, mentorship, and support for Black men throughout their college experience.

“We have other student groups that provide programming for Black males or Black students in general, but we didn’t have something that allowed for professional staff to pour into them as college students who are developing into young men. Because of this, and what I have seen on other campuses, I thought creating a Black Male Initiative rooted in brotherhood, academic success, and leadership was necessary for the BSC community to have.”

As the academic year comes to a close, members of the Black Male Initiative look forward to first-year students getting involved in the organization in the fall, and current members will serve as mentors for a new group of initiates. Leadership is something Brown sees as a core part of the organization, allowing for members to lead now and in their future communities.

“I chose to join the Black Male Initiative because I saw it as an opportunity to connect with my fellow Black male peers and saw the potential positive impact this group has not only on the Black males on campus, but the Black student population on campus as well,” says Reece Weaver, a senior applied computer science major at BSC. “I valued my experience within the BMI as it provides an outlet for us to talk and relate with one another on a more personal level, which I believe guides us all in the right step to succeed.”

For Kendall Johnson, a sophomore psychology major, joining the initiative was important to him because it presented a place for students and young men like him to received guidance on navigating life at BSC and the world after college.

“In our world, the Black male is sometimes viewed as less than, and it was very important for me to join a space where Black males could be vulnerable about their daily experiences in life, especially here at a predominantly white institution,” Johnson says. “The Black Male initiative is like a brotherhood to me. It is an organization where me and other young Black males can be vulnerable, show love to each other, and encourage each other to have a positive mentality.”

As senior media and film studies major Tre Butler prepared his speech for the induction ceremony, he reflected on his time at BSC and his gratefulness for the initiative during his final year at BSC. Butler says that, as a transfer student during his junior year, he got involved on campus in as many ways as he could. During Black History Month this year, when Coach Kenneth Cox, head track and field and cross country coach and associate AD for student-athlete mentorship, reached out to him about the opportunity, he made plans to attend the first Black Male Initiative meeting.

“I saw or knew of most of the guys in our group, but didn’t really ever speak to them before then,” Butler says. “Usually, when there’s a meeting with a group of people, students are quiet and don’t volunteer to speak. The first meeting we had was supposed to probably go on for about one hour I assume, but it went for about two or more hours. I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in a group of people. I felt like I could express myself and speak about how I felt and that they would understand me.”

The campus community is invited to celebrate the inaugural cohort of the Black Male Initiative at 7 p.m. Monday, May 9 in Bruno Great Hall.