VGCC Male Mentoring students visit Atlanta


A group of VGCC students visited the Carter Center during their trip to Atlanta. They included, kneeling in front, from left, Travis Williams, Matthew Jaurique, Cody Boylorn, Benjamin Marshall, Bradley Gooch and Dajuan Harrison; and standing, from left, Mycal Elam, Christopher Blue, Heriberto Leos, Joshua Horton, Johnathan Williamson, Tyler Boylorn, Miles Brown, Mikal Williams, Tyrese Perry and Quincy Hart. (VGCC photo)

A group of VGCC students visited the Carter Center during their trip to Atlanta. They included, kneeling in front, from left, Travis Williams, Matthew Jaurique, Cody Boylorn, Benjamin Marshall, Bradley Gooch and Dajuan Harrison; and standing, from left, Mycal Elam, Christopher Blue, Heriberto Leos, Joshua Horton, Johnathan Williamson, Tyler Boylorn, Miles Brown, Mikal Williams, Tyrese Perry and Quincy Hart. (VGCC photo)

The Male Mentoring program at Vance-Granville Community College took a group of students on an educational trip to Atlanta as the spring semester drew to a close.

The “mentees” who participated in the tour included Benjamin Marshall of Butner; Mikal Williams of Clayton; Cody Boylorn, Tyler Boylorn and Joshua Horton, all of Franklinton; Christopher Blue and Dajuan Harrison, both of Henderson; Matthew Jaurique of Kittrell; Miles Brown and Tyrese Perry, both of Louisburg; Bradley Gooch, Quincy Hart and Jonathan Williamson, all of Oxford; Travis Williams of Norlina; and Mycal Elam and Heriberto Leos, both of Warrenton.

Students were accompanied by Greg Nash and Anthony Pope, co-coordinators for the Male Mentoring program at the college, and by Derrick Cameron, a VGCC Business Administration instructor who serves as one of the “coaches” for the program. According to Nash, the purposes of the Atlanta trip included “exposing students to various colleges and universities and their signature programs, increasing students’ awareness of the world and helping them to connect academic learning to real life.”

Each day of the three day-tour had a specific theme. On the first day, themed “Higher Education,” the group visited three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Spelman College, Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, along with Emory University, Georgia State University and Oglethorpe University.

The second day, the theme of which was “American History,” included visits to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, the Atlanta History Center/Museum, the Margaret Mitchell House and the Center for Civil and Human Rights.

The theme of the third day was “African American History.” The group spent significant amounts of time in historically African American business districts, neighborhoods, churches and the actual birth-home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A major highlight of Day 3 included exclusive time with a retired Police Captain and Martin Luther King Jr. Center associate, Charles Alphin, who presented lessons on non-violence in everyday living. “These types of lessons are valuable to our mentees, especially when considering today’s tensions between law enforcement and young males,” Pope said. “The lessons of the 1960’s are interconnected with the lessons of today.” Mentee Mikal Williams said that “one of the most important aspects of this trip was the revelation that education, American history and African American history are all interconnected.” 

Nash added, “Our objective was to give our mentees the opportunity to live some of the things they read in history books, and to live some of the things that may seem out of their reach.” Other highlights included time spent on Atlanta’s public transportation subway system; time spent with young African American lawyers who shared career advice and life lessons; and meeting a graduate of Georgia Tech and Clark Atlanta’s dual degree program who emphasized the importance of mathematics. They heard from filmmaker Spike Lee’s college film instructor, Herbert Eichelberger, who encouraged mentees to follow their dreams. The group also visited CNN Headquarters and Underground Atlanta and took in an Emory University symphony concert. Excited mentee Matthew Jaurique stated that he was “going to get his college degree so that he could move to Atlanta!” Cameron said it was apparent that “the mentees learned a lot, and they continue to enthusiastically talk about how much they enjoyed their time in Atlanta.”    

The Male Mentoring program at VGCC supports the educational and professional aspirations of male students through an active, intensive, and engaging process of academic coaching and case management. The goals of the program are to keep participating students in school, to increase their graduation rate and to increase their rate of transferring to four-year colleges and universities. For more information on the program, contact Anthony Pope at popea@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3395, or Greg Nash at nashg@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3305.