Patrons & Partnerships

Ep 24: My Brother's Keeper with Javan Brown and Mike Hutley

April 28, 2022 Library Partnership Branch, Alachua County Library District Season 1 Episode 24
Patrons & Partnerships
Ep 24: My Brother's Keeper with Javan Brown and Mike Hutley
Show Notes Transcript

Thanks for joining us for the first collaborative episode of Patrons & Partnerships, presented by the Library Partnership Branch of the Alachua County Library District and Santa Fe College.

Every other month, the second episode of the month will be an interview with Santa Fe staff meant to highlight a notable program or outreach effort by the college. Today we spoke with Javan Brown, the Coordinator of My Brother’s Keeper, and Mike Hutley, the College Registrar and one of the supporting staff since the program’s inception.

My Brother’s Keeper is a support program designed to increase the retention and success of black males, both socially and academically; we discuss how the history of the program, how MBK meets its goals, and how black boys and men can get involved. 

My Brother’s Keeper at Santa Fe: https://www.sfcollege.edu/mbk/
Contact: https://www.sfcollege.edu/mbk/contact/ 

Visit the Alachua County Library District website to browse our collection and to find other resources and services offered at your favorite, local library!

You can view a transcript of this podcast on ACLD's YouTube Channel.

Hi, thanks for joining us for another episode of Patrons & Partnerships. Our episode today is a bit special. It’s the first in a series in collaboration with Santa Fe College where every other month, the second episode of the month will be an interview with Santa Fe staff to highlight a notable program or outreach effort. Today our episode focuses on My Brother’s Keeper, a support program designed to increase the retention and success of black males both academically and socially. We spoke with Javan Brown, the Coordinator of My Brother’s Keeper, and Mike Hutley, the College Registrar and one of the supporting staff since the program’s inception.[music]

Eleanore:

Good morning, Javan. Good morning, Mike. Thank you for joining us today.

Mike:

Good morning. Good to be here.

Javan:

Thanks for having us.

Eleanore:

Could you introduce yourselves and your program?

Javan:

Well, my name is Javan Brown, and I'm the coordinator for the My Brother's Keeper program at Santa Fe College.

Mike:

And good morning, I’m Mike Hutley, I’m the college registrar. I've been involved with My Brother's Keeper since the beginning… 2006? Javan: Yes.

Eleanore:

Could you provide some more details about your program?

Javan:

Well, Santa Fe College, back in 2006, paid attention to the emerging research that said black male students weren't performing as well and face additional challenges in higher education. As a result, the men of the college came together and said, What can we do? And how do we address this issue? And out of that, the My Brother's Keeper’s program was started.

Mike:

And just to add to that, like Javan mentioned, the black male employees were called together by the President, then-President Dr. Jackson Sasser, to address the issues that were being discussed at that time. There were lots of statistics that came out that were talking about the plight of young black men of that time, just not succeeding in higher education and in life in general. And out of that initial group, came a strategic plan that was designed to address the issues that Javan mentioned. And from that came My Brother's Keeper.

Eleanore:

How long has it been in existence?

Javan:

So I know we said since 2006, but what I'd like to highlight about this is more so about the growth of the program since 2006. So in 2006, you had, like we mentioned, the gentleman that came - who were called together at the college, right, chief among them being Mike Hutley that's here with me today. So having Mike there from the inception of the program, and to be a mentor, and I will even share with you, I was a student in the program too, right. So looking at coming full circle. Now, not just as a mentor, as a student, now as a mentor, as a colleague, an employee at the college. So having that type of example, there shows to the continuity and support that's been developed at the college. So in 2006, it started without a full time employee. We just - the college's goal was, get started, do not wait for all, everything to be perfect, for all the conditions to be just right, get started and we will develop as we go. And from a student perspective, looking back, I'm grateful that they did. Did not wait for it to be perfect, but just got it started. Because in that, the program grew from volunteers, to a part-time specialist to an advisor to a full-time specialist. Now there’s a full-time coordinator and additional support across the college. As the network grows, as the support grows, and as the college itself continues to improve the support for the program and the network, right, that support network of the college, continues to grow with it. So that's what I want to highlight. Just not that it's been around since 2006. But it's continually been growing in the support it provides.

Eleanore:

And you're a success story of the program who's paying it forward now. Did you want to talk about your experience with the program as a college student?

Javan:

I am so biased with this question. I will tell you right now. I am, I am. There is no way around it. So first, I'm gonna say I started my collegiate quest in Miami-Dade County. And then I went to explore Broward County, right. And it just wasn't going to work for me. And I found online - I was searching, I still remember to this day, “Spring B.” Because I was set in my mind. I'm going to school now and I'm not going to wait. It will be in person. And I'm not going to wait till the summer. I just returned from a deployment overseas, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. So I needed to be in school, brick and mortar, I need to wave at a professor and say, help me, I'm not getting it. And everyone was telling me to start in the summer. I found it unacceptable. So when I found Spring B online, that's it, decision made. I checked, it’s a public school - Oh, Santa Fe! Here we go. 20 days, and in 20 days, here I am at the college. I'm like, Why can't all these other schools have options like this? So that's how I started at the college. And then the support provided through the program. We had back then a part-time specialist. And she was very involved. And we had folks like Mike Hutley and Captain Woods, the police - at the time, he was Lieutenant Woods - that would drive around those… You can't get away from him, he’s like, why you not in class? What you doing? And like - now, you know, we’re all just hanging out. There's no classes today. Well, you better be doing something productive. It's that familial tie, someone calling out to you that really was the support outside of the classroom.

Eleanore:

A community that encourages you to do better?

Mike:

So hence the name, My Brother's Keeper.

Eleanore:

What are the missions and goals of My Brother's Keeper?

Javan:

The purpose is clear, right? It's to support black males academically and socially. The how we achieve that, right? The goals that we do, like I'll share with you… In 2017, right, there was like - you know, let's take a look at ourselves, what are we doing again, and in 2018, we started with the revamp process, where we started to focus on three main areas or three tenants, if you will, of developing students. And it's diplomat, mentor and scholar. The diplomat is, we need a group of student leaders that will be responsible for the program. And again, emerging research, you can go through the research, it’ll tell you that students need to be in charge, that peer mentorship, that peer leadership is absolutely important. So that's why we started to focus on the diplomats. We did that for one full year, demonstrated success in the way that we can model that program. Then next we focused on the mentoring - what will that look like? Now, mentoring needs to be two pronged. The Collegiate students themselves need to be mentored by folks like Mike Hutley and now, you know, I'm in the seat myself, and members of the college and the community. But at the same time, they have a responsibility to the community. They too need to be charged with providing mentorship and support in the community to younger children. So we started to focus on an elementary school, we partnered, we did the cohort for a full year… and then got hit with COVID, right? So that stalled a lot of our progress in that regard. And the next part is scholarships. We need to identify our young men as scholars, because everything in the community is telling us that they're not. The research is telling you that you're not and there's this thing we all know about labeling. And you know, what you see, what you - what they say, what you communicate is what is now absorbed and becomes the belief. Some call it… forgot the term for it, manifest, you start to manifest those messages. So what if we started to call these young men, instead of at-risk and everything else, what if we charge you as the scholar and tell you what your - that academic path needs to look like? And then not only that, we identify those that are scholarly that are advancing. So we have students who have 3.5 GPA and their charge is being scholars to represent what the model of scholarship and academia looks like, to do the peer mentoring and bring their peers along.

So those are the three tenants:

diplomat, mentor, and scholar, which we've been supporting students. We’ve demonstrated success in all three, and how to develop and enrich students in those regard.

Eleanore:

That's interesting. I'm glad that you're providing alternative stories for black men to see themselves in. What are your major initiatives for My Brother's Keeper?

Javan:

The major initiatives, just as outlined diplomat, mentor scholar, and I'll say please note, I said, we've demonstrated success in each category. Just the truth is it's become unsustainable to maintain all three tenants as just the coordinator because the level of support that's needed as the program grows in, in these three areas. So this being communicated, the colleges continually try to find ways to bring in additional support. We have other folks in the college that try to support the program externally. However, it's just not sustainable. Right. So demonstrating success and sustaining the success is not a challenge in those regard because now that we start to grow and focus in three different areas, you need additional personnel to support that type of growth. And we just aren't there yet completely. But the college is still exploring ways that they can provide additional support to the program. So those three areas.

The greatest challenge I will share with you is this:

Scholarships. Scholarships that are deliberately named for students in My Brother's Keeper will make a difference. It is hard to maintain student diplomats and the diplomats, let me tell you, I'm putting them to work. This isn't just a hangout, this title isn't to look cute or be pretty. No, you're going to get put to work. And we expect, I expect you to not just be a role model, but to be active in the recruitment process, active as a face, not just for the program. But I'm going to expect these students to go to a meeting, meetings that I'm not in, and you will speak on behalf of the program and carry the same authority. And if you say this, well, that's what it is. I'm going to trust your word. That's a greater level of trust and burden or responsibility that's going to be placed on these young men. So we must reward them in some way, shape or form. Currently, we do $100 book stipend, but let's be honest, that's not going to hold them. If we can provide scholarships, tuition-based scholarships or things of that nature to fully support them throughout that semester, or the season that they're serving, I think that will make a big difference.

Mike:

One thing you, that you hear woven throughout Javan’s comments is the accountability. You know, I mean - Javan expects a lot from young men, and we all do. And that's a college-wide thing that Javan has done a great job at helping the college community to keep that tenant as a part of what we expect, you know, from the young men. And that's a part of everything that, that he does, that he speaks to when he talks to the young men, as a young man involved in everything. And that's a huge part of, of what's going on. He's humble about that. But that's a huge part of, of the success, I think, of what we're seeing.

Eleanore:

Encouraging that personal and professional development in your mentees?

Javan:

I'll share like, the value for me and it's, it's crazy to share, I'm going to do it, go for it. Here it goes.

Eleanore:

Do it!

Javan:

So having students - currently, we have students in batches in different places, and I stopped to observe how they communicate. While they were here at Santa Fe College, they were strangers. They literally came as strangers. One came from Las Vegas, one from Miami-Dade, the other one from somewhere close to St. Augustine area, right? Three completely different guys from different places. Now, they all live together as roommates and they're looking to buy a house because paying rent? I won't- (laughs) I won't communicate the words they use, but paying rent is not it, right? So they want to go get a joint property that when they move out, they can leave it as a rental property down in Orlando. And I'm sitting here like… Man, if I was thinking like that, right?

Eleanore:

Yeah, that's forward thinking right there.

Javan:

But it's because it's what was formed here. And we had Money Mondays, where when we're talking money, we're talking money. When I - I can't require anyone to do anything. But I sure got standards and expectations. So you need to go read this book, or you need to go watch this video, or you need to come here because you're being broke. And broke is just the mindset. I'm challenging it. What are you doing? We had students that are getting - and I’ll share this with you, too, in a podcast, if you're listening, come to Santa Fe College, find me, I will talk you through this process. I do not believe anyone should pay for school. And I think if you're going to school, you're paying out of pocket, you're doing it wrong. I'm biased. I had the privilege of going to Santa Fe College for free. Let me fix that, I'll state - I’ll restate it, I got paid to go to Santa Fe College. And a lot of students don't understand what it means to get paid to go to school. Now, there's this thing I call the lies. And for the last year and a half, two years, I've been calling it a lie upfront. We tell it in college, we tell it in the community, we tell it in our homes, and we tell it in the schools. We are telling these kids that college is expensive. It's a burden, you can’t afford it. And a lot of times what we do is psychologically, we try to use it as a control mechanism to control the behavior or to get the behavior we want. So we tell these young kids, college is expensive, so you better study. You need to go to school and work hard because college is expensive. And what we're doing is, and what we failed to acknowledge, we're polluting their minds about the truth of it. I had a young man that says, why would I want to go to school if I'm going to get in student debt, and everyone I know in debt is struggling to pay bills? Why do I want to go there and put myself in that type of situation? Fun fact, the same group of students we’re telling it's the most expensive to, the ones that really can’t afford it, are the ones that are going to be eligible for things like the Pell Grant. And just to be clear, the Pell Grant is a government subsidy on education, it writes a check to itself. If you are eligible in that income base, it will pay the tuition. That's it, tuition paid. The college is now free. Your living expenses might be something else. But there's additional scholarships and grants that can support you in that regard. So what do I do in MBK? Is I make sure up front, and again, this is a complete bias of mine. But I drive the point home that school is free. And if you do what I tell you, you can make money. Some of these students are bringing in 8, $9,000 a semester.

Eleanore:

Wow. Javan: Okay. College is free. Yeah, that more than covers everything. Javan: Money management.

Javan:

So now they're thinking, What can I do with this extra money I got? They get past “We don't need to buy clothes because it's not going to turn into money for me,” now they want to buy a property to rent out in Orlando.

Eleanore:

That sort of mentorship is invaluable.

Javan:

Let's call it out. Okay, now it's affordable. And that's part of the message and that's part of what the program really does. How do you connect with not just me but other students are doing the same thing. They're having these discussions. And that's the big thing, right? And MBK is the place that these students can come together and have these discussions and call it out and be challenged.

Mike:

And what goes with that is also Javan and the program does a great job in helping students to connect with other offices on campus. I mean, most folks, one, don't even know what the registrar is and what it does. I mean, but what goes with that is, you know, we want to make sure that students understand how to connect with resources, or what the campuses - not campuses, other offices on campus. You know, how to how to go through an appeals process, how to appeal taking a class for a fourth time, or third time with a reduced fee, how to do a petition for an adjustment of record, all things that are done through my office. You know, I mean, these are the things that, especially young black males tend to just bypass or don't know or give up on. And these are the things that we don't want to have happen. So again, these are things that are part of the mentoring, you know, that I think are valuable, you know, that other students take advantage of, you know, and rightfully so, you know, that we don't want our young black men to give up on or to not know about. So these are the things that go with that.

Javan:

I send everyone in that office, like, oh, petition? Quick, let's start over, look - here. If I type in two or three letter sequence, P, e, t, no, I'm not gonna get Petsmart or vet care, petition is gonna pop up and it’s the link straight to his office. My computer knows what I'm looking for.

Eleanore:

Yeah, I mean, not having to take a class again, that's money saved. Who do you partner with on campus and in the community? You said the registrar.[silence] Lots of people, it sounds like.

Javan:

Yeah, like… I was just like, wow, how do I… Mike: I was going to say, yeah - So here's the truth, I… I struggle with managing goodwill. What I mean by that is, in the community, right, there are a lot of folks who, Hey, this is what we do, this is how we can do it. And I can - if you look at my desk, there's nothing but sticky notes. It looks like the back end of a restaurant, with a, with a lot of tickets. And I have quick notes written on them - okay, this person can do an internship here, call this person for this. And it's - a student walks in, I said, Wait a minute, say that again? We're in the MBK suite, we're by the computer lab where we have computers and a desk and ways, various ways students can interact with the space. So the student mentioned something and I'm like, wait a minute, give me a second. I had to walk to my office to go check my sticky notes, to see which notes belong to him. Because I was connecting the dots of the resources communicated by the community. And here it is, I'm hearing the need, we can connect it that way. And as for the college… I've been at Santa Fe going on five years now. And I'm still learning about the college. Santa Fe is remarkable. There's like, offices inside of an office behind an office. And sometimes it's unique, how you get there. But there's so many people there to help and ready to help that I can't sit here and tell you, I partner with - just all of them. And as the support grows, or as I learn about what's there, you know, you have that opportunity to match students or provide those additional assistance. But it is continuing and the college isn't stagnant itself. Mike’s office has grown tremendously. There's a lot of stuff, you'd have to go back and forth with paper. And he's like, Well, no, just submit this here, send it through this email, do it online. The process is now expedited, you remove three different steps. So there's several things going on. It's continually changing. But the top partners I would say is probably going to be the registrar's office, financial aid for sure. Admissions, where we're always back and forth with admissions or the recruitment efforts, or how do we connect specific groups of students to support as soon as they get to the college? So you don't have to be lost in the process. As soon as you get here, how do we connect you, right? Those are discussions that, that has been going on since I got there and they're still going on today. How can we improve that? It's just all across the college. We partner with a lot of folks.

Eleanore:

And do you have any notable community partners that you work with?

Javan:

Currently? Yes. And the first one that jumps to mind is the 100 Black Men of Greater Gainesville, Greater Florida Gainesville. And with the 100, MBK specifically, we're targeting middle school boys for monthly mentoring that we're doing at our downtown Blount campus at the moment to provide additional support for young black men. We started in February. First month we had seven registered, seven students registered. In March, we had 24 registered. And we only see it growing as the community learned more about that initiative. But it's not just to say we're mentoring those boys, here's how it's going to be full circle. This is what we envision. We're mentoring them in the middle school before they get to high school, right, so we can plant that seed of different and opportunities beyond high school before you get to high school. So you have the next thing to look forward to. Now when they get into the high schools, Santa Fe already has its SF Achieve program, where we have - the SF Achieve program is, if the students go through it in high school, they will go to Santa Fe for free, they'll receive a scholarship to the college. Right? So we have these additional opportunities that are built in that we want to make sure these students are prepped, going into high school, so they're not shy about seeking out these resources or getting involved with a program like SF Achieve, go through SF Achieve, come to Santa Fe on a scholarship, right, getting it paid for and then end up in MBK learning how you can make even more money, or how you can get connected with other folks doing different things. I challenge these young men, stop going home for spring break. You're wasting your time, take a trip together. Nine of them apparently a couple of years ago, went down to Miami or Orlando. And that's how they ended up at UCF. They really liked Orlando, right? Because... Can you believe young men are into Disney?

Eleanore:

I - everybody is into Disney.

Javan:

Okay. They like Disney. They like the theme parks and like all right, cool. Orlando it is, UCF here we come. But it's that network. How do you get there? Were you ever a part of a brotherhood, where you were seeing other young boys face to face in that type of relationship? Right? Where you've been mentored by men, a community of men. So now that you go through SF Achieve, and it's not gender based or anything like that, SF Achieves, but there's other mentoring aspects that they can get involved in. Just because they know it exists and what it looks like, and the fellowship that comes with it.

Eleanore:

Yeah, it's just one piece of the puzzle. How can black men apply or find out more information about MBK?

Javan:

Like many things, it’s online, right? So sfcollege.edu/MBK. Again, that's sfcollege.edu/MBK. And right there on the page, you'll see quite a few of the things that we do. I'll be honest with you, it is no way encompassing of everything that we do. Right? It's just, here are some of the things that goes on in the program to give you a general overview for those who want to join the program. MBK is a collegiate program. So it's for men at the college. Right? So just to make sure that's clear. And there's a tab right there on the front screen, Join MBK. They fill it out. It's a two minute application. And I'll get the information and get them connected. Now for members in the community who - and I get these messages all the time - how can my son get involved, right? And I'll just tell them to email the college, email the program, excuse me, at MBK@SFcollege.edu. The email is MBK@SFcollege.edu. And we'll respond based on the need and see how we can support that family or that child.

Eleanore:

Okay, that's awesome that you still work with people, with young men who aren't part of Santa Fe.

Javan:

Remember earlier when I said the collegiate students are responsible, in charge with the mentoring and connecting and being responsible for the community? So that's how we tie that together. And then the program itself, we do events that are targeting the community because of that same responsibility. So what - recently, we did the Black Male Enrichment Conference, which focused on 7th through 11th graders, to provide them support and expose them to the college-going culture and atmosphere at the college. And in the fall, we will do our Student For A Day, where we bring seniors onto campus, specifically seniors, and that's a different experience, and showing them the ins and outs, point at the offices like - that one right there! Make friends, everyone in that room is your friend. If they don't like you, you like them! They are your friend, you know, doing that little extra, so they understand. Okay, okay. And I’ll even share with you, I’ll share this - this is the first time I'm sharing this one with Mike. We had a student about a month or two ago, came to the college, never signed up with MBK. And he came with the Student For A Day. Lo and behold, he went and he made friends in all the offices. So now I'm asking him, so wait a minute. You made friends in all the offices but you never came to MBK! He goes, Well I thought about it. I'm like, so you know what, next time we're going to tell them “Come to MBK,” because maybe we need to say that explicitly. He went to Financial Aid, he was doing perfectly fine. He was. And it's because he came to this event, even though he didn't connect with the program when he got to the college, he still knew how to navigate the college. And I find that in itself to be powerful.

Eleanore:

Regarding events, are there any upcoming events that MBK is putting on?

Javan:

Yes. So a lot of stuff we do will be internal and focused to the students on campus. So in April, we’re - we have the police/student dialog coming up, where it's a really unique event we used to do several years before, and then with that pandemic right before that and extended, a lot of things that - you know, that we're getting back in the groove of doing. And it's even more important now, especially with the things that we all sat and saw, right, with those experiences that are now being amplified. And I'd like to share that what the community in the world is now seeing, because apparently, America didn't know it, is not new to the black experience. These are things that black people have continually been communicating. They've been telling these stories day in and day out. The difference is now it's being caught on camera. And now we can't hide from it. And now those who may have disbelief in what they heard, now that they're seeing it for themselves, they can no longer hide behind ignorance. They have to own that truth. These young men, right, are now being peppered or forced these images that they've already been hearing. But it's to realize that, yes, there's problems with policing, but the individual might not be your problem. So you can't - just as we're gonna say, not all black men are bad. I'm gonna tell you not all cops are bad. And for me, I don't believe in good versus bad. I think you just have people who do good things and bad things. So I don't struggle with that dichotomy. But it's for them to learn that yes, they are people that you can interact with just the same, and learn some of those challenges, have the difficult discussion. I never shy away from it. But we're going to have it in a healthy way that we can learn from each other and grow. And that's what the student/police dialogue will do. It's being facilitated by an outside organization that we've worked with before. They do a great job. And we're partnering with the Santa Fe Police Department. We're gonna have other agencies from throughout the city and county come up and participate. So it's one of those enriching experiences that we all get to learn and grow and face some uncomfortable truth and work through that process together and emerge as a cohesive unit or someone that can have a discussion versus, there's this innate fear or me versus you, just because I look at you. So those are some of the things that goes on in the program.

Eleanore:

Okay. Is there any other information that you would like to provide?

Mike:

I think we've… Well, I think we've covered everything I felt we needed to cover, Javan has done a great job at highlighting the program.

Eleanore:

Especially since it seems like it's a very difficult program to boil down to a 30 minute program.

Javan:

I jokingly say I don't know half of what I do.

Mike:

I mean, Javan can go all day. I mean, we can give him all day, and he can go -

Javan:

The only thing I can think of is, and it's - I don't know if you probably have them on the schedule for other events. But notice, our SF Achieve that I mentioned, that's a pretty unique opportunity that we strongly encourage folks to dive into.

Eleanore:

Yeah, we have fliers for it here. And my - when I saw it, I was like, wow, I wish I was a high school student right now. [laughs]

Javan:

I’m like, I’m in the wrong era. Send me back, send me back, please.

Eleanore:

We always talk about being born in the wrong era and you mean the past, but no, I want to be born, I want to be a high school student now. It does seem like there's more… There's a lot more opportunities for students these days than 10-15 years ago. It seems like the people who graduated 10-15 years ago looked at how difficult their experience with college was and decided that they weren't going to let other people struggle the same way.

Javan:

But not only that, I think what you're speaking to and that sounds more like a testimony, is the growth. The growth. We’ve now noticed and identified areas and students that have struggled in ways that collectively we're like, wow, you shouldn't have to go through that. What can we do to alleviate that? And I'll share that, that's - I've been around those conversations a lot at the college. And to see that, especially at Santa Fe, like I'll just be upfront. I'm biased, biased because my experience and what I get to see day in, day out, day out, these are the conversations that are happening. And in a community you might not know it, you might not think it, might not see it. But when you see a program like SF Achieve and you're like wow, I wish I was a student again, that speaks volume. Right? Because you have folks at the table and I'm going to tell you right now, Mike Hutley, Dr. B, Dr. Brown - I have seen and been around the conversations. And when you watch people remove themselves from a conflict and the first response is, let me take notes. Let me gather, let me capture this, and ask clarifying questions to understand the student experience or the challenges that's being communicated? That's powerful. And you're like, Yeah, this is the right environment, these people get it. It's not about someone who's frustrated, they're communicating through the frustration. But what did you get out of it? Did you become defensive and shut down? Or did you stop to be purposeful and make this meaningful, what you can capture and how you can provide that support? Mike: Yeah.

Eleanore:

Coming to the table as a problem solver?

Mike:

I mean, the college is always trying to find these barriers we can remove. We’re always looking for those, even when it comes to processes.

Eleanore:

Regarding barriers, I know COVID has actually hit college enrollment pretty hard. I’ve heard it’s like a 25% decrease in some parts of the country. Have you noticed that with the My Brother’s Keeper program?

Javan:

Yes. I’ll be honest, it’s not just with the program. Across the college, several of the programs communicate the same thing. The incoming students, the challenge I see is, Santa Fe College is a two-year institution. And as such, the turnover is high. Three years max, a student is expected to be graduated and moved on, right? Time and a half? So when you look at being affected in 2000 and going all the way through 2001, there’s a bulk of students that are looking to graduate that have never had the on-campus experience. So what does that mean for an organization like MBK or other programs or student organizations as a whole? That means there’s a good chunk of students that never got to experience that enrichment process of being on campus. Then not only that, the incoming students now are around a group of students that don’t have a clue what that looks like, so they don’t know what on-campus activity looks like. They don’t know what the college atmosphere really looks like. They’re coming to school when the spring semester, we started off with COVID restrictions which still reduce the numbers and disperse, trying to make sure that we’re operating safely and that we can accommodate and meet the needs for the state and all the different policies that the school has to follow. But at the same time, you step back and you go wow, they’re coming into an environment where interaction was not being encouraged. But what’s the main point of going to college? It’s to network! It’s to meet folks, it’s to interact and rub shoulders with. But we’re telling them not to do that this entire time. So how can we expect them to be at that point, be interactive, just because now we’re going to change the rules? They’ve been accustomed to well, I’m just going to take this class online, I’m not coming in person. And as a result, from what I see, it’s a lot of them just not being interactive and not seeking out. Just as the enrollment faces that issue, there’s those other factors that affect the interaction level and how involved students become on campus.

Eleanore:

Yeah, I didn’t think about that. Even with - even if there hadn’t been the hit to enrollment, it would be something of a cultural reset for Santa Fe College, and not necessarily a good one.

Javan:

In my purview, it might take four to six years to develop that cycle of interaction again. And the reason why I say four to six years is because when I look at the university system, those students are there for four years. Typically your first year, you’re just trying to figure it out. Your second year, you’re like, let me get involved in something. And it’s your upper division level that you might decide you want to take over leadership. Junior, senior, you’re taking over leadership of organizations. Well, they’ve had this gap, and it’s going to take them two years to get back right. So I see the college, the state college taking twice as much that time where students start to get introduced back to activities again, and as that grow, the next two years, you might see the next culture of students or the next cohort being more accustomed to being involved and being active again. And mind you, K-12 has been going through similar challenges, so the interaction is being reduced across the board.

Eleanore:

Yeah, the kids coming in are going to have a different idea of what college culture should look like anyway, so… It’ll be interesting to see how that works, but I’m glad that at least young black men have MBK to assist them with that transition. I think that’s all we had. If there’s anything else you’d like to talk about?

Mike:

No. Eleanore: You’re good? Yeah. Thanks for having us.

Eleanore:

Yeah. Mike, Javan, thank you for coming. This has been a very interesting conversation. It’s really cool all the work that you do.

Mike:

Thank you. Javan: Thank you.[music] Thanks for listening to Patrons & Partnerships. We hope you enjoyed this special episode. The next collaborative episode with Santa Fe College will be posted June 23rd, and we’ll be speaking with Ms. Julie Falt, the contact person for Santa Fe’s Adult Education and GED Program. We’ll see you then! As always, you can find our episodes anywhere you listen to podcasts. Storytime on the Green is back for the new year starting January 11th. Visit our site at aclib.us/storytimeonthegreen for a list of times and locations for all branches. Partnership staff hold Storytimes at Smokey Bear Park

off of 15th every Thursday at 10:

30am, weather permitting, and we have a representative from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to help you sign up. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library provides preschool children with a free book every month until age 5. If you have a child under age 5 in your household, it’s a great opportunity to encourage their love of reading. Have you heard the news? Your library card now grants you access to Hoopla, a music and video streaming service with thousands of albums, comics, and movies you can enjoy on any device with the Hoopla app. There's no need to place a hold- all of the content is available on demand at any time. To check it out, go to aclib.us/hoopla. ACLD is happy to welcome you back for in-person programming at all library locations! Join library staff for arts and crafts, book clubs, and educational programs like computer classes and Conversation Clubs for ESL speakers. Registration is required, and seats are limited. Visit aclib.us/events to view and register for programs.