Club steers black boys, men to college DAYTONA BEACH -- Hosea Crooms Jr. stands when he speaks. He looks his audience in the eye. He
delivers words with the passion of a preacher and the confidence of a
lawyer, the latter of which he indeed wants to be -- after a successful
football career. The Atlantic High School sophomore talks of going to
Florida A&M University or Harvard. "When
I started here in sixth grade, I was rough around the edges, kind of
like sandpaper," Crooms said, wearing a blue pinstripe suit, vest and
tie on a recent Saturday morning. Now
the 16-year-old quarterback of the champion Brain Bowl team is a rising
star who's recruiting other boys to join him at Bethune-Cookman
University's Black Male College Explorers Program. There,
boys in sixth through 12th grades meet in a classroom on campus,
analyze the news, get tutored on their schoolwork and learn to play the
Royal Game -- chess. In addition to meeting on Saturdays during the
school year, the program also has a summer component, where students
like Hosea get an opportunity to focus on academics and learn more
about colleges and universities. Mentoring
programs such as Explorers are a major part of efforts to steer more
black men to college. Institutions such as Bethune-Cookman have long
sought more male students. B-CU and other schools, including Santa Fe
Community College in Gainesville, are rolling out programs designed to
help black men in higher education succeed. Rest at the link provided.