The young men attending Alabama State University will be presented with the opportunity to learn and grow as the Office of Student Life will host the “Legacy Builder’s Men’s Planning Conference.”
The conference is spearheaded by Jason Etheridge, director of Student Life. The conference will span across three days, Feb. 21, 22 and 23 and will be located in Ballrooms A, B and C on the second floor of the John Garrick Hardy Center. Food will be provided and music will be played to keep the atmosphere sociable.
“The conference is an opportunity for all of our young men to be surrounded by other young men while engaging in empowerment, learning, education, growth, conversations as well as an opportunity to build towards a men’s achievement program,” Etheridge said. “We have three dynamic speakers who are coming – Keith L. Brown, Derrick Hill and Bob Macky – each of whom are outstanding in their own rights.
“Unlike many conferences,” according to Etheridge, “it’s not just about the speakers, it’s about the brotherhood of men on this campus and how we, as men, can take care of one another and help each other grow.”
After seeing conferences like this being held on other college campuses, such as North Carolina Central University, where he was formerly employed, Etheridge wanted to see if there was a way that he could bring this conference to the university as well.
“I know that we can’t just say, let’s just write it, bring it, done,” he said. “Let’s make it make sense for the community. In order for anything that’s significant like that to be done, we have to have students involved. …We have to have the young men who are on campus involved in building what that’s going to look like. The idea was to strategically bring our young men together, give them exposure, let them see a representation of themselves in the spaces that the university would like to see them and then have them take that information and start to create a program that they can say they had their hands on and possibly be a part of before they graduate.”
The conference also has a lot of student involvement, as he included a student planning committee who will essentially be running the conference.
“They have created the agenda, so it’s going to be an engaging session for our brothers,” Etheridge said. “I’m just excited to see who all will show up and how we engage. I don’t care how many show up, but I know the right people will show up, and that’s who I need. Now, I want it to be a good show. I want a lot of brothers to come because this is something that I don’t think we’ve seen. I know we haven’t seen it this year, and I don’t know when the last time we’ve seen something like this, a three-day conference focused on our young brothers to come together and grow. I think that this will be significant, and the results of it will be impactful.”
According to Etheridge, the goal for this conference is to complete the writing of the Title III proposal for the Men’s Achievement Program. Afterward, the focus will shift to the planning and execution of “Embracing the Next Level: Women’s Planning Conference,” that will be held on the dates of March 27, 28 and 29. The format will be similar, except that it will be focused entirely on women.
“With that, we have two other dynamic speakers, and we’ll do another sit down for that one,” Etheridge said. “We want our women to come together and engage and grow and learn together so that we can build a program that does just that for years to come.”
He continued.
“Immediately after the conferences, I want the young men of this campus to feel more connected to the campus, that this campus is not just a place for them, but it’s a place that sees them, appreciates them and thanks them for being here and wants to wrap its arms around our young men to let them know that we want them to be as successful as they can possibly be here,” Etheridge said. “That’s the immediate thing I want to get and get more information on how we can build this Men’s Achievement Program based on their voices. With their input, we can build out something that’s specific, and we can roll it out, hopefully get the funds from Title III, and we can have something going really good when we come back in the fall.”