萨克门庆祝十周年

塞尔吉奥·格雷罗·索诺拉, coming to 圣安东尼奥学院 was just another task he had to check off his list. 毕业于拉尼尔高中, 他打算去上课, 做家庭作业, 然后回家休息，直到第二天.

在SAC的第二个学期, things began to change when he joined the 圣安东尼奥学院 Men Empowered Network, 称为SACMEN. He was familiar with the group because one of his teachers from high school recommended it to him.

Although he started attending SACMEN meetings, he did so with reservations.

“当我刚到这里的时候, I thought it was a little weird because joining an organization and talking to people you don’t know, 这不是我的菜,他说, 他补充说，这是他的舒适区.

But once he joined, SACMEN mentors made sure he continued to stay with the group.

Soon Sonora, who considers himself a shy person, found himself connecting with other students. 他学习技能来帮助他成为一个更成功的学生, 他还在网络安全领域寻求建立人脉的机会, 他大学毕业后想从事的领域.

Sonora is one of several hundred male students of color who have found success in college through SACMEN, 庆祝其成立10周年^th 今年是学校的周年纪念.

Modeled and affiliated with Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success) at the University of Texas at Austin, SACMEN was created to help men of color find academic support through leadership training and networking opportunities.

Geraldo Guerra, director of the Academic Success Centers, is the current director of SACMEN. He helped with the creation of the group with director of Student Success Mona Aldana-Ramirez, 第一任导演是谁. Their mission was to address the issue of male students of color having one of the lowest graduation rates of all student populations.

Guerra, who had a great experience when he was a student at SAC, said he wanted to help others.

“We never had that conversation about the needs of minority males,” said Guerra. He added that no one talked about what struggles they faced along with their reluctance to ask for help.

Starting with just a small group of students, SACMEN grew steadily every year. 它也得到了SAC校园之外的认可. 2018年，SACMEN获得了 优秀项目奖 在5点^th 一年一度的德州男生领袖峰会, the first time the award was given by the Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color.

In 2019, Guerra took over the group when SACMEN moved from the Student Success Division to the Academic Success Division. One of his first actions was to adopt the Five Pillars used by Project MALES as the core values for SACMEN. 支柱是:

• 兄弟会
• 领导
• 大学和职业准备
• 健康与福利
• 身份

“All of our program activities center on these Five Pillars to anchor our initiatives,” said Guerra.

小组的另一个变化是 一个属于自己的地方 在校园.  七楼的SACMEN休息室^th 穆迪学习中心的一层, 提供专门的学习空间, 指导, 和兄弟情谊.

Networking is a large part of SACMEN’s mission – helping students connect not only with each other and to faculty and staff, 还有SAC以外的人. 最大的机会之一出现在2019年, 当SACMEN被邀请加入社区领导人在一个 华盛顿之行 to speak with members of Congress and their staff about issues important to 圣安东尼奥. 由圣安东尼奥商会组织, this was the first time college students were invited to attend.

在过去的几年里，SACMEN也举办了 platicas 在学年期间, inviting community leaders to lunch 在校园 and having conversations on wide ranging issues as well as advice on academic and career growth.

兄弟情谊也是SACMEN的重要组成部分. The shy students who first join the group learn how to become leaders and they, 反过来, 当新成员到来时成为导师. Several former SAC students who have transferred to other universities come back to support the group.

回顾过去10年, Guerra said the reason for SACMEN’s sustained success has been creating a sense of belonging. “建立真实的关系. It takes a lot of time having conversations with each student, but it has been worthwhile,他说.

囊,