News

December 17, 2007
College Receives $30,000 to Support Male Minority Students

From left, Stanley Sivels, purchasing agent at Edgecombe Community College, is an EMPAC mentor, and Stanley Hines, a business administration major and vice president of the Student Government Association, is a member of EMPAC. “EMPAC has shown me how to be a leader,” Hines says. EMPAC is a minority male mentoring program at the college.

A minority male mentoring program at Edgecombe Community College is being strengthened thanks to a $30,000 grant.

EMPAC - Empowering Males with a Purpose to Achieve and Celebrate - recently received funding from the N.C. Community College System and the state legislature. ECC is one of 15 community colleges in the state to receive the grant.

The purpose of the grant is to increase graduation and retention of minority male students. The EMPAC program began at ECC two years ago.

In addition to increasing graduation and retention rates, goals of the program include raising social and civic awareness and promoting leadership development.

Pam Little, dean of students, says the grant will be used to strengthen academic standing and expose participants to various cultural activities for EMPAC members, which currently number about 20. “We are setting up study groups to help them in school and are planning several Saturday Leadership Academy programs to bring in community leaders to talk about their careers and provide community information sessions,” she says.

At the core of EMPAC is its mentoring program. ECC male employees are paired with EMPAC students, and the mentors provide support throughout the school year. Employees serving as mentors are Billy Arp, Phil Bailey, Tim King, Tony Rook, Randy Mitchell, Troy Winstead, Michael Jordan, Lawrence Sugg, George Jones, William Wooten, Ronald Summers, James Williams, and peer advisor Garry Silver.

Michael Jordan, vice president of student services and an EMPAC mentor, says students often drop by his office to discuss problems and challenges. “So many of these guys are in the same boat,” Jordan says. “Until EMPAC, they didn’t have an organized forum in which they could address the issues that are very specific to the young black male.”

Plans for the grant include college tours; fine and business dining etiquette, soft skills, and time management seminars; a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game; hiking; and horseback riding.

Mike Blankenship, social science instructor, and Stanley Sivels, purchasing agent, are coordinators for the grant.

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