Black Student Leadership Symposia
On Friday, December 9, 2016 in MC 211 A & B, a Black Student Leadership Symposia took place. This event was put together by the Umoja Community of San Diego Mesa College and the faculty in support. Professor and Academic Advisor, Michael Temple was accompanied by his fellow colleagues as they spoke about taking charge of your college education by using all the resources offered to you.
Welcome remarks were spoken by Michael Temple, Larry Maxey and Dr. Ashanti Hands. Dean of Student success and equity, Larry Maxey, spoke of the different types of love one can have for another, in various situations.
Dean, Larry Maxey speaks first. “Being a dean is something that I do, it’s not who I am”. Mr. Maxey explains his role at San Diego Mesa College. He promotes student success for all students, but in particular, African American, Latino and Pacific Islanders. Some may ask “Why?”. He says it’s because the data shows that people of color will not be as successful as White students and Asian students. He is here to “demystify, to remove that story, to remove those barriers. To let you know that you can and will be successful. We believe that.” He then gets into why he does this, not as a dean but as a person. “Well, I’m going to say something that may sound a little corny. But I’m here to tell you that I love you”. Maxey says that in the lexicon of our language, that we use the term “love” so liberally to describe anything. He says how people use love to speak on how much they admire another person’s shoes, etc. But loving your shoes can’t be the same way you love somebody as a person. “We use love to describe things that we like. We use love to describe things that we are infatuated with. We use that word so liberally that it loses its meaning.” This was striking a cord with everyone in the audience. It was known because as I look around, I saw heads nodding in agreeance, and people even looking at each other whispering “that’s true”. Mr. Maxey goes on to breaking down the different types of love. Agape is the first one. It is a higher love. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your background is. “We are going to do our best for you, no matter what.” “Eros is an erotic love. Something you feel for a romantic partner. Storge, which is the kind of natural love that you have for a family member. You have Philia, which is the type of love you have for a homeboy or a homegirl”. If there was one thing in particular, out of all the great things Mr. Maxey said, it would be that I now know the different stages of love. That was a powerful message.
Next, Nate Klein and Billy Carter spoke. They are two students who transferred from community college to San Diego State University and their purpose was to share their story about going from a community college to a 4-year University. Nate Howards best words of advice were “Get involved. If you sit on the sideline, you can’t affect the game”. Billy Carter’s greatest advice was “You learn from somebody’s mistakes. You learn from somebody’s story”.
Dr. Ashanti Hands, Vice President of Student Affairs, then spoke. This lady is someone to truly aspire to be like. She was born and raised in Inglewood, a city in Los Angeles, California. Being where is from didn’t stop her from becoming the woman she is today. It actually made her who she is. After her introduction, Dr. Hands passionately spoke about her reasons she is at Mesa College. “When people sat around the table, they were thinking about you. There is something powerful in that. We are transforming the way we do things here at Mesa College. We are not reforming what we’re doing, we are not building practices that may not have been effective. We are literally blowing up these things that have been sitting on the table, and trying to do these things so that we can meet you where you are and help you succeed”. Dr. Hands says that she, along with the other faculty members involved, have been thinking of ways that they can repair us, to make us ready, to be successful at Mesa College. “We are really trying to change the culture here on this campus so that we can be who you need us to be to succeed. Becoming the Leading College in Equity and Excellence. We are here and have no other goal, but to create the conditions to have for each and every one of you to succeed”.
Professor Sade Burrell ended this symposia with tips on how to network, relationship building (i.e. contacting through email to follow up), and making connections with people who have the same interest as us as well as people who do not. “You shouldn’t walk away. The reason why you should never walk away, even though they’re different and can’t really connect on that, is because you don’t know what she can do for you”. There needs to be a reciprocal relationship when networking with someone else, where they can use you and you can use them.
The Symposia ended with all the students in the room being connected with academic counselors, staff from the transfer center, student affairs center, and more. This event was a much needed one to boost and encourage community college students to research, use their resources offered by Mesa College, and to get involved by networking. So if you are a Mesa College student and you are reading this, go visit the mesa website and take advantage of all they have to offer.