African American Men in College (review)

Nationally, African American male students hold the lowest college completion rate (32.8%) among both sexes and among all racial/ethic groups in higher education (Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac, 2006), and no reform effort has been able to abolish this trend. Clearly, a comprehensive but concentrated plan of action is needed to deconstruct this persistent problem. In 1997, University of Louisville Professor Michael J. Cuyjet offered insight on ways to minimize Black male college attrition and to address this crisis in his edited book, Helping African American Men Succeed in College. Nearly one decade later, Cuyjet has assembled African American Men in College, which he describes as the "sequel" to the former edition (p. ix).

This 21-chapter volume is appropriately divided into two parts. The first section includes a collection of empirical studies that illuminate issues and ideas impeding or facilitating Black male college success. The second section describes nine exemplary programs designed for campus administrators to help improve the staggering completion rate noted above. Pieced together, this book is aimed at helping Black men "surmount and reduce these challenges such that the journey for these young men is made easier and the numbers of those succeeding increases significantly" (p. x).

In chapter 1, Cuyjet employs U.S. Census data and other national sources to highlight the status of Black men in higher education and society by unraveling the numerous economic, cultural, historical, and political issues that surround them. He points out interventions that undercut Black male college success. This introduction sets the tone for the 11 chapters that follow in part 1. In chapter 2, Fred Bonner and Kevin Bailey describe some underlying elements that affect Black male academic achievement, including the role of peer influence, family support, faculty relationships, self-esteem, and institutional environment. These factors alone often determine the fate of Black male college success but remain complex and disconnected in many cases.

The next two chapters, authored separately by Charles Brown and Shaun Harper, use qualitative methods to explore the benefits of cocurricular engagement on Black men in college, specifically by way of participation in student activities and student organizations. In chapter 5, Michael Sutton emphasizes the role of mentorship for Black male college students, using the Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB.) as an example of good practice. Chapter 6, written by Lemuel Watson, uses survey data to uncover the social construct of spirituality and religion in the lives of Black men while pursing a college education.

Chapters 7 and 8 arguably address two of the most well-known, intricate issues that affect Black male undergraduates—that is, the current state of Black fraternities and athletes in the American higher education. Shaun Harper and Frank Harris explain the gains associated with holding membership in Black fraternities and evenhandedly discuss the current issues that threaten the existence of these organizations. Next, in her review of literature, Kenya LeNoir Messer compiles the factors that impinge upon college success among Black male college athletes. These factors include academic underpreparedness, stressors ignited by negative stereotypes from faculty and peers, and alarmingly high attrition rates.

Jamie Washington and Vernon Wall, two prominent experts on multiculturalism and inclusion in higher education, use the limited research that exists on homosexuality in general to unveil the specific concerns of gay and bisexual African American college men. Washington and Wall posit that most Black gay and bisexual men, as an oppressed subgroup in the backdrop of campus culture and more specifically within Black culture, "are not only dealing with the confusion as it relates to their attraction to other men, but what that means for them in the context of the Black community, the church, and the eyes of God" (p. 175). This chapter moves this silenced issue to the forefront of the African American gender and sexuality discourse.

The next two chapters examine the African American male college experience in historically Black colleges and universities as well as community colleges. Walter Kimbrough and Shaun Harper discuss...