Brothers at Bard (BAB)
Have you ever lived in a foreign country where you speak the same language but you don’t know anyone or understand the customs and no one offers you the courtesies usually extended to foreigners? How would you get into a good school or get a good job? That’s a bit like what elite white America can look like to many students of color.
Brothers at Bard (BAB) is a mentorship program with both Bard students and Kingston High School students that aims to create a supportive environment to help students of color define and achieve their objectives. A program of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard, BAB was founded by two students five years ago. It grew from a campus club, a brotherhood circle, designed to provide security and support to Bard male students of color with a program that reached out to young men of color in the Kingston High School. The Bard students have a special understanding of the problems and concerns of the high school students because they themselves face some of the same problems and concerns.
BAB Objectives
- To create a safe and nurturing space for men of color studying at Bard College.
- To provide academic enrichment and personal mentoring for men of color as they progress through high school.
- To offer professional networking and career development among Bard College alumni of color.
- To be an active voice in the national coalition of organizations dedicated to lifting up young men of color in their academic, personal, and professional development.
Program Development
One of the founders of the project felt such culture shock at Bard that he was planning to leave in the first semester of his freshman year. Joining the campus club of young men of color gave him the courage and support he needed to persist and graduate.
BAB extends the brotherhood circle to 25 young men of color in the Kingston School with the help of ten mentors. It has now expanded to running an in-school tutoring program at the high school, a college tour series, a summer academy, mentoring trips, and advocacy for the high school students. It is changing students’ lives.
Some Personal Stories
Andre got involved with BAB when he was a sophomore in high school. He was a good student, popular, an athlete but he had no idea how to get started on the college process. By the time he graduated, he had won a full scholarship to St. Lawrence.
Jonathan was in a different place, fathering a son in his senior year and thinking about dropping out to work. Instead, his involvement with BAB led him to make up the credits he needed to graduate, and be accepted at SUNY Ulster. He deferred college to work as a chef and has remained involved with BAB.
Looking to the future
The two founders, Dariel Vasquez and Harry Johnson, worked on the program throughout their four years at Bard. Dariel has continued with BAB in the year following his graduation, building a closer relationship between the program at Bard and the Kingston community. Harry has spent the year investigating mentorship programs in several countries to develop an understanding of how to expand the program. The two hope to formalize their program, develop consistency, and secure funding to grow.
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