Illinois South Suburban colleges Team Up to Help Minority Males

Norman Parish | As of Thursday, October 8, 2015

Addison Jackson Jr. has benefited from programs targeting black students at Governors State University and Prairie State College in south suburban Illinois.
Addison Jackson Jr. has benefited from programs targeting black students at Governors State University and Prairie State College in south suburban Illinois.

Addison Jackson, Jr., an Army veteran who worked as an executive at a St. Louis bank, struggled when he returned to college four years ago.

Jackson said at times he felt like giving up -- it had been years since he sat in a classroom.

But fellow African-American students encouraged him and he encouraged them at Prairie State College, a community college in Chicago Heights, Ill.

It worked. Jackson eventually received his bachelor’s degree in social work at Governors State University, 1 University Parkway, University Park, Ill. He established a relationship with the black students there, similar to the one he had with black students at Prairie State.

Last week, Governors State and Prairie College partnered together to create a “Duel Degree Program-Male Success Initiative.”

The program, which was unveiled at

photo
Governors State University.

Governors State University, was established to improve minority male success at the two schools. Both schools have large minority male populations.

The keynote speaker was Shaun Harper, executive director of the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

“We have to talk about institutional racism,” Harper said. “Racism is very real on (college) campuses.”

He said it was important to have top brass on board on such initiatives.

Harper pointed to several other schools across the country that have programs targeting black and other minority males, including providing mentors and having classes for minority males.

Governors State and Prairie State have similar programs at their schools. The schools will now combine their efforts.

“We really supported each other,” recalled Jackson, 43, who returned to college after being laid off from a bank.

Jackson, who suffered head injuries in the military, said instructors encouraged him at both schools.

“Education is the key to success,” said Jackson, of Park Forest, Ill. “There is a disproportionate number of young black males who are being incarcerated and in low

paying jobs. They are fed up. Education is a way out.”

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