Jackson State University students Bennie Walker and Jamal Bledsoe are the winners of the “Stories of Resilience” essay contest that is part of a Creative Award-winning project aimed at keeping black males in college.
Dr. Rodney Washington, who proposed the project, said “each of the entries received was reviewed and respected for its significant perspective, but I could only award two.”
Washington won a 2013 Presidential Creative Award for Faculty and Staff for his research proposal, JSU G.U.Y.S. (Guiding Undergraduates through Yearly Support) Project: A Research-Based Approach to Retaining Minority Male Students in Higher Education. Washington wants students to share their stories about obstacles they’ve encountered that could have discouraged them from continuing their degree. That’s the reason he launched the essay contest.
Bledsoe, a junior chemistry major, wrote about difficulties he encountered after his mother became ill while he was student. Walker, a freshman speech communications major, discussed his reaction when his birth mother sought him out 18 years after giving him up for adoption.
Each received a $100 award.
Washington said he’ll use excerpts from all the essays to help develop a support plan for black, male students. Though his award funding is exhausted, he’s searching elsewhere for resources to continue the project.
The increasing decline of African-American male students in higher education has become a national epidemic and one that merits extensive investigation, Washington said.
A 2012 report released by the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education on African-American male success rates in higher education noted that this population has the lowest rates among all genders and racial groups.
Washington said student leadership, including the Gentlemen’s Academy, will work with the Student Life to plan some activities around Orientation Week next fall.