Ohio University students will hear about a particular type of economic stimulus today — one not emphasizing debt loan forgiveness but rather the graduation rate of black students.
James Moore will speak at OU about black males and higher education. The Student Personnel Association, a graduate student organization that focuses on higher education, is primarily sponsoring the event.
Moore is the inaugural director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male at Ohio State University.
He will speak at 6 p.m. tonight in Baker Center Theater on African American Males: An American Imperative in Higher Education and Society At-Large.
At 10 a.m. tomorrow in 214B McCracken Hall, he will offer a class workshop focusing on research and careers.
Moore’s speech will highlight the necessity of diversity and acceptance across American college campuses.
“There is no place for darkness in an institution for higher learning,” he said.
Vincent Harris, a second-year graduate student studying for a Master of College Student Personnel, cited a 2002 study in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, which found that only 37 percent of black students who enter a four-year college graduate within six years.
Workers without high school or college degrees traditionally make less money and, in turn, contribute less to the economy during their lifetimes.
“The education of African-American males plays a critical role in Ohio’s economic stability,” Moore said. “Come if you are interested in making this campus and this country better.”
Harris said he hopes Moore’s research and presentation will work to improve existing conditions on OU’s campus.
“We forget that learning doesn’t only happen inside the classrooms — it happens outside as well,” Harris said. “This is an issue that affects everyone on a college campus.”
He added that he hopes Moore will challenge every student’s current ideas and thoughts on black males and diversity.
The event is also intended to encourage the sharing of different cultures.
Presenting this topic to a large group of people will allow students to branch out and interact with new people, said David Manley, a graduate student and president of the Student Personnel Association.
“One of SPA’s responsibilities is to promote student affairs and make this campus better,” he said. “We want to produce global citizens that are aware of not only issues at their own back door, but the rest of the world as well.”
bl171210@ohiou.edu
