{"id":210542,"date":"2019-11-25T15:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T20:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=210542"},"modified":"2019-11-26T10:24:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T15:24:23","slug":"at-boys-to-men-mentors-fashion-student-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2019\/11\/25\/at-boys-to-men-mentors-fashion-student-success\/","title":{"rendered":"At Boys to Men, Mentors Fashion Student Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Working to change the narrative of high school students who do not see a clear path to college, Montclair State\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/educational-opportunity-fund\/\">Educational Opportunity Fund<\/a> (EOF) will host about 1,000 students during this academic year to build a bridge to higher education.<\/p>\n<p>In the first event held on November 15, the work began, simply enough, with learning how to tie a tie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to be in high school and not know what comes next,\u201d said Jherel Saunders-Dittimus, a senior in Communication Studies who credits his college experience for transforming his life.<\/p>\n<p>Then, spreading out among 300 boys at the annual Boys to Men conference, other EOF students who have walked in their shoes, showed the teens how to knot neckties.<\/p>\n<p>The message: Despite barriers in attaining academic and personal goals, you are \u201cknot\u201d a statistic.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/2019-11-25_eof-boys-to-men-2.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/2019-11-25_eof-boys-to-men-2.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t let your dream be deferred,\u201d urged Karen Pennington, vice president for Student Development and Campus Life. \u201cThere is a path, there is way, it is possible, it is achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Boys to Men Future College Graduates and Young Women\u2019s Leadership conferences presented by EOF showcase the college experience and provide financial literacy, leadership and career training. The students also receive information about the college application process, including financial aid and scholarships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe subscribe to an intentional enrollment framework to help move the students from prospects to active alumni,\u201d says Daniel Jean, executive director of EOF and Academic Development. &#8221;<\/p>\n<p>EOF mentors are credited with narrowing an achievement gap, especially among black and Latino males, first generation college-goers, and students from poor and low-income families. For the past <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/spring-summer-2019\/a-bridge-to-success\/\">50 years, the program<\/a> has provided mentoring, tutoring and advising to students from New Jersey\u2019s poorest neighbors and troubled school districts.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Video: EOF Provides Bridge to Success\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cwXdtxM96fQ?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 500px; height: 281px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know from many years of research and working with students that those people who go to college are going to be the ones to succeed,\u201d Pennington said. \u201cYour dream of becoming a scientist, an actor, a writer, whatever it might be, that dream will be enhanced and achievable through higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among Montclair State\u2019s success stories is Saunders-Dittimus, a native of Camden, New Jersey, who serves on campus as president of the Student Government Association. \u201cEOF put me in the position that I am in today, emotionally and mentally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Special events like the high school conferences are among the successful strategies that have increased engagement, persistence and college graduation rates at Montclair State. At Boys to Men, Michael Spence \u201914, a motivational speaker, delivered an empowering message: \u201cThe best gift you can give your family is a better you.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/2019-11-25_eof-boys-to-men-3.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/2019-11-25_eof-boys-to-men-3.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"EOF speaker addressing the crowd\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>EOF will follow up after each conference (the Women in Leadership event will be held on March 6, 2020) with the students and high school counselors. \u201cWe try to navigate some of the stressors and troubles students have coming to college by giving them as much support as possible, by being mentors, by being motivators and also by showing them that it is possible,\u201d said Rahjaun Gordon, EOF\u2019s associate director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStay focused on your future,\u201d Pennington told the high school boys, their new stripped and solid ties symbols of success. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about what happened in the past. Don\u2019t worry about what happened last week, last month, last year. Don\u2019t worry about all those things out there slowing you down. Stay focused on your future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Story by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/profilepages\/view_profile.php?username=lehrenma\">Marilyn Joyce Lehren<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/\/ Output tags as a list for Google Analytics custom dimension\nwindow.MSU_TagList = [];\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Changing the narrative for students unsure about college begins with learning how to tie a tie <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210542"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210554,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210542\/revisions\/210554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}