Chapter 5: Project Gentlemen on the Move: A Model for Creating a Pipeline of African American Male Scholars

For our “gleaming” selective, public research universities (SPRUs), the lack of African American male students walking their corridors represent an intellectual emptiness that will only serve to haunt our future (Bailey & Bradbury-Bailey, 2010; Bailey & Dynarski, 2011; Carnevale & Stroh, 2013; Naylor, Wyatt-Nichol, & Brown, 2015; Palmer, Davis, Moore, & Hilton, 2010; The White House, 2014). After 60 plus years following Brown vs. the Board of Education, there has been a myriad of attempts to increase the enrollment of African American males in postsecondary institutions with only sporadic success because those of us who understand the dynamics of the problem, as well as experience with viable solutions have neither the capital nor the influence to “move the windows.” Ironically, pieces of the solution already exist and what needs to happen is the intentional construction of a seamless pipeline that would serve to eradicate the issues with enrollment as well as promote the retention and graduation of African American males from postsecondary institutions of higher learning. After working with middle and high school African American males for the past 30 years in an attempt to help them achieve their academic and social potential, it has become apparent that three major barriers prevent their acceptance to and graduation from a colleges and universities (especially research institutions)—”seeing” the pathway to such institutions, being prepared and qualified to attend them, and finally, being able to survive a SPRU’s academic and social environment. A “functional” pipeline would need to intentionally tackle each of these barriers by connecting the dots between effective precollegiate academic enrichment programs for young men in Grades K–12, as well as academic advisement and scholarly outreach programs scattered across the SPRU landscape (Bailey & Bradbury-Bailey, 2007a, 2007b; Bailey & Bradbury-Bailey, 2010; Naylor, Wyatt-Nichol, & Brown, 2015; Palmer, Davis, Moore, & Hilton, 2010).