Montclair State University
The energetic, clear sounds of bomba drums called the room to attention as window screens lowered to shield the audience from the bright blue sky and Manhattan skyline. Performers Cultura Lovers and the NJ Bomba Collective played and danced to welcome the assembled professionals, academics, scholars, and high schoolers.
“I came for the opportunity,” said Kash Shahzaman, a 17-year-old from Ewing High School in Ewing, NJ, near Trenton. “It’s good to go out and experience as much as we can. That’s why we’re all here to be honest.”
Shahzaman was joined by other high school students, all men of color from high schools across the state, most located in urban, low-income areas. Each young man volunteered to come to Montclair State University (MSU) on Friday, March 8 to attend the second Male Enrollment and Graduation Alliance (MEGA) symposium. They hoped to learn more about what attending MSU might look like for them, but they were also looking to find community and connection in their shared experiences.
MEGA is a workgroup at MSU that targets the recruitment and retention of Black and Latinx men to college. The theme of this year’s symposium was “Triumph Over Trauma.” Its goal: to break down barriers around mental health, discuss what it means to be Black, Brown, and male in today’s world, address and acknowledge the burdens young men carry, and discover best practices for how to best support students (and professionals) on their academic and healing journeys.
