Black, Brown and College Bound
Annual conference focuses on boosting minority male higher ed attainment.
By David Pluviose
TAMPA, Fla.
Like numerous professional athletes who have maintained ties with childhood friends with spotty criminal records even after they move out of tough inner-city neighborhoods into sprawling mansions, some minority college students face similar challenges as they find a way to advance themselves through higher education.
On a student panel at the “Black, Brown & College Bound” conference in Tampa last month, young Black and Hispanic males spoke out about the pressure they face from friends bent on going down the wrong path.
“A big thing for me in my neighborhood is loyalty, but that loyalty sometimes gets me entrapped in some situations that I shouldn’t be in,” said Palm Beach Community College student Thomas Beckwith. “Some of my friends say, ‘You’re changing on me. You know where we come from. I made you and I’ve been there for you.’ Sometimes, that’s how you get entrapped in that environment.”
Beckwith added that, ultimately, surrounding himself with people who can motivate him to excel in college can help “alleviate that pressure.” Yet, “each day when I go to the college, it’s like a whole different world to me. But as far as when I come home, I know I’m going right back into the same situation that I came from.”
Manatee Community College student César Hernández expressed similar sentiments, saying, “One of the challenges that I’ve experienced is friends. Sometimes you’ve got to get rid of the friends that don’t make good decisions, people that are going to hold you back,” Hernández said.
Hosted by Hillsborough Community College and nine other Florida two-year institutions, the second annual Black, Brown & College Bound conference attracted 375 participants who attended numerous tracks dedicated to examining and removing barriers to college for young Black and Hispanic males.
