Four young men stand on the edge of a stage, eyes closed and backs facing the room. More young men stand below, some poised for action and others distracted with horseplay.
“You don’t know who I’m going to push next,” says a wiry man commanding the stage. The man, Gilman Whiting, abruptly taps one of the young men on the forehead like a faith healer, and he falls into the arms of his peers.
It’s a Trust Fall exercise, and like every activity at the Summer Scholar Identity Institute at Vanderbilt University this month, there is a point to be hammered home.
“As you move forward, let me assure you that the road will get more and more treacherous,” Whiting lectures. “When you isolate yourself from people who can help you, you are in for a world of hurt.”
The two-week Summer Scholar Identity Institute is running from July 9-20 at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt. It is part of the Vanderbilt University Achievement Gap Project, which is striving to close an alarming achievement gap between young black males and other students.
The project was developed by Whiting and Donna Ford, the Betts Chair of Education and Human Development and a professor of special education at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education. Sponsors at Vanderbilt have included the Center for Ethics, the College of Arts and Science, the Office of the Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education, Peabody, the Program in African American and Diaspora Studies, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Nicholas Zeppos, the Learning Sciences Institute and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The participants are part of the 100 Kings program, in which Metro Nashville students in fifth through 12th grades get mentoring from the 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee organization.
“Black males are much more likely than other people to be killed by homicide, prostate cancer or AIDS,” said Whiting, assistant professor of African American and Diaspora Studies and Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt. “They drop out of high school more often and attend college less often. They are perceived as troublemakers, many times because of communication difficulties with white teachers.
“It’s often not socially acceptable to be a high achiever among their friends, and sometimes the choice becomes one of high grades or friends. It’s a tough decision for them to make.”
The Summer Scholar Identity Institute brings together young black males from the Metro Nashville School system with high grades and potential, and seeks to reinforce good habits and create camaraderie around the notion of being a good student.
“Most of us get good grades but sometimes we don’t act like it,” said Dahjwon Waldan, 15, a student at Martin Luther King High School who wants to study computer engineering and law.
“We have to watch out for each other.”
Activities during the program include physical exercise, advice on diet and sleep habits and some observations on the negative portrayals of black men in the media. Students take home assignments like the challenge to title and outline a movie about their lives.
“All you really see in the news about African American males is negative things,” said Tony Gardner, 14, who starts Hume-Fogg High School this fall. “This program is a good way to help change that.” Gardner hopes to attend Vanderbilt and eventually go to medical school and become a surgeon.
Nursing along 25 or so young men at a time while thousands languish can feel hopeless at times, but Whiting believes that each young black male who makes it is worth “a thousand more” because they may inspire and mentor others.
“One of these guys could be the next Barack Obama or Martin Luther King Jr.,” Whiting said. “If we don’t do programs like this, we could lose the skills of a boy who could grow up to be poet laureate.”
Media Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu