Urban Scholars Alumni Present Research at Harvard Alumni of Color Conference

On March 2nd, SJLI’s Urban Scholars alumni presented at Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Alumni of Color Conference. The conference was established in 2002 to bring awareness to the educational issues impacting communities of color. Three members from SJLI’s Urban Leaders Alumni Council – Paul Terry, Osirus Fulton, and Marcus Pickens – gave a presentation on the individual, institutional and systemic barriers that young men of color face in completing college.Their presentation “Strengthening College Persistence for Young Men of Color” was based on the council’s original research over the past few months.

The Urban Leaders gathered surveys from 194 male college students, who shared personal barriers such as financial hardship and longer commute times. Recommendations made by the Urban Leaders Alumni Council include creating a greater sense of community at universities to increase retention and financial planning support to alleviate financial stress. Our scholars were glad to engage and raise awareness in an open dialogue centered around the experiences of people of color in higher education.