University of Washington at Seattle: The Brotherhood Initiative

The Brotherhood Initiative is based at the University of Washington and aims to empower undergraduate males of color to thrive on campus and graduate prepared for a lifetime of leadership, service, and success.

Focus Areas: Marketing, Outreach & Recruitment

Describe your initiative/project

The Brotherhood Initiative is based at the University of Washington and aims to empower undergraduate males of color to thrive on campus and graduate prepared for a lifetime of leadership, service, and success. In collaboration with the University of Washington Global Affairs (GA) Office, the BI offered a short term, early fall start exploration seminar in Rome. The Education Rome program focused on the interplay between masculinity, multiculturalism, and education in Italian society as compared/contrasted with the U.S. The program took 16 students in total – 8 men, 8 women. 7 of the 8 men were men of color enlisted in the BI program. Only 2 of the 16 students identified as White women, the most common demographic among study abroad participants.

What need does this initiative/project intend to meet? What conversations/other projects led to its creation?

The BI aims to promote student growth and success inside and outside of the classroom. In recognizing that benefit of study abroad and severe under-representation of males of color in study abroad participation, the BI access funds through the GA’s Global Innovation Fund to plan and pilot a program that would, ideally, enroll more men of color than usual. Using the Global Innovation Funds, the Dark Empire – Public Health England program was shadowed as it was led by a faculty member of color and, content wise, focused on systems of oppression, racism, etc. This helped baseline what a study abroad program could look like that appeals to URM students. Additionally, a scouting trip was funded in the Spring of 2018 to finalize details and prepare for the 2018 Summer program. The conversations were focused on what topics would make the program more appealing to URM, how to market and flag that it was designed to be race conscious,  led by faculty and staff of color, etc. Additionally, conversations about scholarships and funding to support students financially unfolded as well. This ultimately led to most Brotherhood Initiative students receiving scholarships.

Which student group(s) did your institution target as part of your initiative/project?

All students generally but particularly Black, Native, Latino, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander men as those are the student populations served by the BI. Beyond that, we targeted specific majors and student groups that would align with the subject matter of the course – i.e. Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, Sociology, Education, etc.

Why did your institution feel that it was necessary to target this group?

Beyond the traditional benefits (retention, graduation) our work in the BI has explored how the general sense of belonging and happiness among men of color at PWIs can be problematic as the campus does not feel like it is intended for them. It could be described as culturally outside their comfort zone in some ways and we sort of hypothesize that the ability to navigate the adversities and ‘fish out of water’ feelings that come with study abroad would translate well to success back home.

Tell us step by step the process taken to implement this initiative/project?

Again, this gets confusing as the BI has been a long developing project across nearly 6 years now that involves a steering committee, executive committee, research team, program unit that offers transitional success classes, etc. One aspect of the BI effort has been to better engage with co-curricular learning on campus (service learning, research, study abroad, etc.) and the study abroad effort unfolded over the last 3 years now: first with Dr. Joe Lott (PI for the BI) shadowing Dr. Clarence Spigner’s program, Dr. Joe Lott shadowing a study abroad experience in Beijing China, and Dr. Lott and I doing a site visit to the UW Rome Center to finalize things. Throughout all of this, Gayle Christensen (Associate Vice Provost in GA) was a collaborative partner helping us apply for and secure funding (to make the aforementioned planning trips) through the Global Innovation Fund as well as help us with the program proposal and application process.

What obstacles were encountered throughout the planning and implementation phases?

Which faculties, departments, centers and/or student groups on campus were involved in the process?

Brotherhood Initiative. College of Education. Study Abroad Office. Global Affairs. University of Washington Rome Center.

Were there any new assessments and/or procedures produced due to the initiative/project? Describe any new processes, policies, assessments, or other tools that may have been created or updated to reflect the office’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The course focused on experiences of marginalized populations using photo elicitation as a pedagogical tool. It appears that the collaboration with the BI and this approach interested and attracted a more diverse applicant pool. Additionally, the BI research team is currently conducting research where they follow up with the individual students to see how they may have changed, how their understanding or race, gender, etc. may have changed, and so forth – partly program assessment but also exploratory/academic research around global awareness, race consciousness, etc.

How would your institution approach this initiative/project differently if you were to start over?

Even though we marketed the program to a diverse audience and interviewed a diverse audience, the focus on race and masculinity was difficult to pitch to women, particularly white women, as they often were under the impression that the program was not for them since it was so targeted towards men of color. As such, some of our marketing language, titles, etc. have been tweaked. Additionally, we’re looking at way to cut costs and make the program more affordable and accessible.