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As attendees walked into the third floor conference room at Schine Student Center, love filled the room — but not romantic love or love for a friend. As Jeffery Mangram, the keynote speaker at the event said, it was brotherly love.

Brotherhood was one of the most important themes of the afternoon as the Men of Color Initiative inaugurated its Class of 2022. The inauguration banquet was the first for the MCI. Dylan Antigua, a Syracuse University senior and an intern at the MCI, said it was “a program designed to support, empower and explore issues unique to the Black male student experience.”

The inauguration was held on Friday in front of a crowd of students, faculty members and families of the new members. The speakers of the event talked in depth about the power of community and the importance of bonds within the Black community.

Dr. James Duah-Agyeman, the director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, opened the event with remarks about the process of creating the MCI, which he said had been a long time in the making. The idea was initially brought to Duah-Agyeman in 2018 and it began in 2019, but due to the pandemic, the program was seemingly put to the side by the university, until the students and faculty came back together to rebuild it, Duah-Agyeman said.

After Duah-Agyeman, Antigua and Jordan Pierre, a junior at SU and new member of the MCI, spoke about the purpose and goals of the initiative.

Antigua talked through the overarching goals of the MCI and the reasons for its creation. He said that the program was designed in response to the pressures Black students face to become better academically and professionally. He also spoke about the motto of the initiative — “Be Phenomenal or Be Forgotten” — and reiterated the importance of ensuring that the MCI will not be forgotten.

Following Antigua, Pierre spoke about the individual experience of being in the MCI. As Black men in a predominantly white institution, Pierre said the reality of their situation is that the members of the MCI do not just represent themselves, but the Black community as a whole.

“Today alone, we are defying the stereotypes against our community by coming together for positive reasons,” Pierre said. “Today is not a funeral or a court case, but a celebration.”

Pierre finished his speech with a request: for attendees and new members to promise that while this was the first banquet for the initiative, that it will not be the last.

After Pierre spoke, a video displaying interviews of the new members speaking about how they were introduced to the initiative and the impact the MCI had on them was shown. SU graduate student Miles Hood, an academic consultant for the Men of Color Initiative, created the video.

Once the video concluded, the keynote speaker, Mangram, was brought to the stage. Mangram is an associate professor in the School of Education at SU and the coordinator of social studies education. Mangram, an SU alumnus, gave a passionate speech about love — the importance of loving your brothers and how that love can change your life.

Mangram used former SU quarterback Don McPherson, his friend and one of the speakers at the banquet, as an example of the power of brotherly love. Mangram recalled visiting McPherson’s family house and the foundational growth that he achieved from his relationship with McPherson. He said that he hopes that the MCI will foster the same kind of love felt between McPherson and Mangram.

“My hope for you men of color is that you all work at getting to know each other, that you dare to share your sacred story with each other,” Mangram said. “I hope in the band of brotherhood that you’re forming you can share your sacred story and speak about your hopes.”

Mangram encouraged the men of the MCI to be vulnerable to each other and build strength in their relationships and community. He also thanked Duah-Agyeman for his leadership and mentorship for the MCI new members and all those around him.

After Mangram finished his speech, the members of the MCI were officially inaugurated and each received a jacket to celebrate the power of their achievements, Knighton said.

Directly after the jacket ceremony, all the seniors of the MCI were given stoles from the MCI, and Aaron Knighton, an academic advisor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, announced that all current seniors and all seniors in the future will be gifted a $250 gift card to Men’s Wearhouse. This was a way for the MCI to show appreciation for the hard work of the new members and to offer them access to professional clothing as they embark on their career paths, Knighton said.

McPherson followed the ceremony with a speech directed to the new members about the challenges and potholes that can be found within masculinity. He challenged the men of the MCI to be vulnerable to others, especially their brothers.

“This is not just one night where you get a jacket and you get to be recognized. This is the beginning of some work,” McPherson said. “I want you to know, you will not be forgotten, you have proven it already — you will not be forgotten. You make sure that nobody forgets how you all stood up today.”

Following the ceremony, new members had their pictures taken and fellowship and networking were promoted as food was served. Duah-Agyeman said he recognizes the importance of this program, as it can only grow and become more impactful on campus and in the community.

“The future of MCI is very bright, it can be brighter,” Duah-Agyeman said. “We feel very strongly about the men that are now with us.”

Published on February 27, 2022 at 8:55 pm