Twice a month, a small group of Shocker men meet in the lobby of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to talk about life, troubles, triumphs and dreams.

With an emphasis on building Shocker men up, the ODI’s Men of Excellence group hopes to change the WSU landscape for the better, one man at a time.

“We are about uplifting men and encouraging them to be better men,” said Joseph Shepard, Men of Excellence student facilitator. “We have the tools and resources to help them excel.”

Founded in 2010 with the name “Brother to Brother,” group member levels have fluctuated, ranging from a high of 25 members to a low of three members.

Although the group meets sparingly, its goal is to make sure enough contact is maintained among the group members without being intrusive; the support system is never breached.

“[We meet] twice a month,” Shepard said. “We don’t see you a bunch, but we see you enough.”

One of the main focuses of the group is on student success. Men involved in the program are encouraged to enroll in the ODI’s Multicultural Student Mentoring Program for help with academics.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2006,  an average of 59 percent of students who started an undergraduate degree graduated within six years.

However, when comparing male and female students, only 54 percent of males graduated from a public institution within six years, in comparison with 61 percent of females.

“The program was created because statistics showed that men weren’t graduating from college,” Shepard said. “I really want the campus to encourage other men to participate.”    

Although academics are a focus of the group, historically, Men of Excellence has also worked on providing life tips to Shocker men.

“Last year, we had a Men of Excellence week called, ‘Are you man enough?’” Shepard said.

“We had workshops on how to tie a tie. We wanted men to look professional, so we had ‘How to Dress for Success’ and we had ‘S.W.A.G.,’ which stands for ‘She Wants a Gentleman.’”

With the group’s push to provide male students with an environment to succeed academically and in society, Men of Excellence also hopes to promote a positive environment to grow without judgment.

“[We should] try to take things that we all have and put them together to learn from,” said Blake Glasgow, a group leader.

“We are all equal here,” said group member Darrick Reed. “We are all brothers — we all bleed the same.”

For more information about Men of Excellence, contact ODI at 978-3034.