Date: March 28, 2007
Contact: Lindsay Gladstone
Governors State University
Phone: (708) 534-7090
Fax: (708) 534-8399
Email: l-gladstone@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
University Park, Illinois, March 28, 2007 – In response to the growing need for active and positive support and mentoring services for minority male students, Governors State University, in cooperation with Prairie State College, Joliet Junior College, Kankakee Community College, and South Suburban College, is establishing a new organization, Brother to Brother, on college and university campuses throughout the south suburbs.
“Brother to Brother will give men an opportunity to support each other on the often long and difficult road to earning a degree,” explained Dr. Sherilyn Poole, Interim Dean for Student Co-curricular Activities and Services at GSU. “Our minority male students are not only in college, they are working and supporting their families. Often, they are the first members of their family to seek a university degree.”
Poole sights these pressures as a few of the reasons male students sometimes are unable to complete their degree program. Programs similar to Brother to Brother, established on other university campuses, are effectively combating the high drop out rate among African American male students. At GSU and the community colleges, the program has been expanded to include all African American and Latino students, as well as any male students who feels they could benefit from the collegial supports offered by Brother to Brother.
Brother to Brother will offer minority male students the opportunity to get involved in their education to help them persevere and succeed. Programs will center on spiritual and social growth, financial management, academic support, and community involvement.
“Workshops, mentoring, tutoring, and counseling will all be elements of the personal development of each member of Brother to Brother as they receive assistance and reach out to help each other,” added Poole.
A morning conference, designed to explain the program and encourage student, faculty, and community involvement will be held on April 19, from 9 a.m. to noon, in Engbretson Hall, Governors State University, 1 University Parkway, University Park. Dr. Tyrone Bledsoe of the University of Toledo and developer of the Student African American Brotherhood Program, after which Brother to Brother is modeled, is the keynote speaker.
The event is free and open to the public, but a reservation is required for non-GSU students. For more information and to make a reservation, call (708) 534-4550.
