As the presence of Black male-centered programs increase on college campuses around the nation, this study focused on identifying the benefits Black male collegians receive through engagement in these programs. This in-depth, qualitative study explored the experiences of five Black male students in the Black Male Leadership Collective (BMLC), a Black male initiative program at a midsized historically White 4-year institution. In particular, we used Museus' (2014) culturally engaging campus environment model as a conceptual frame to analyze and understand the men's experiences in the BMLC. While providing personal narratives, the students expressed how the BMLC served as a culturally enriching environment and contributed positively to their overall college experience. Students attributed their participation in the BMLC to three critical factors that improved their college tenures: gaining brotherhood through their Black male peer-to-peer bonding (cultural familiarity, collectivist cultural orientations, and cultural community service), being provided with and enmeshed in a support network (culturally validating environment, humanized educational environment, and holistic support), and enhancing their personal development (culturally relevant knowledge and proactive philosophies). As the student narratives attest, each of these elements, individually and collectively, augmented their engagement on campus and supported their resilience and persistence to graduation. Implications for supporting Black male collegians through similar programs are addressed.

Black college men are constantly repositioned in higher education discourse as problems and in crises. However, there is much to be learned from Black men’s engagement in college and the meanings they make from those experiences. In this qualitative study, we use the engagement experiences of 25 Black men at an historically white campus in the U.S. in order to reveal the value of counterspaces on campus. Our findings suggest that the Sankofa Scholars program created important opportunities for these Black men to get acclimated to college, enhance their awareness and development, and resist deficit framings about them. These findings demonstrate that male success initiatives can serve as a counterspace on campus and can play a critical role in empowering Black men’s persistence in college and strengthening their resilience.

No abstract

No abstract