Conference empowers and celebrates Black male students and faculty

The soundtrack is more exuberant than you might expect from a conference focused on student success.

There's mellow hip-hop being DJ'ed by Associate Professor Craig Arthur, co-founder of Virginia Tech Digging in the Crates. Calls and responses from Black fraternity brothers strolling down the aisles of the Goodwin Hall auditorium. Hellos shouted by friends who haven't caught up in a while.

For attendees at the Uplifting Black Men Conference, held this year on Feb. 24, simply being in the same room together is joyful. The conference is the university’s largest gathering of Black men, bringing together about 300 students, faculty, high schoolers, and community members from across the commonwealth.

“This is the most Black faces I’ve seen in the whole year, and it’s healing for me,” presenter Jacoby Loury, a Ph.D. student in counselor education and supervision, said in a session he led on hip-hop and Black male mental health.

The Black Male Excellence Network (BMEN) has offered the conference annually since 2016 to empower and connect Black male students, who make up only about 6 percent of undergraduates at Virginia Tech and can face intense hurdles to graduation and post-college success. This year, to better meet their needs, the event underwent a sea change.

“Last year, students informed me that they felt unprepared to engage the world beyond college,” said Patrick Wallace, assistant director of BMEN. “Thus, BMEN and the conference this year focused on professional development opportunities while rewarding and celebrating those students who have already accomplished great things.”

New in 2024 was the Dr. Wayne Scales Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Symposium, named for Scales, the Distinguished J. Byron Maupin Professor of Engineering. At the pre-conference event, three undergraduate students presented engaging 15-minute talks about their original research, the culmination of months of mentorship and preparation.

It’s the kind of professional development opportunities that Scales wishes he’d had as a student. “I see tremendous potential for this program to impact so many young Black men around this region,” Scales said.

Justin Dean, a junior in computational modeling and data analytics, won the first place $700 symposium award for his research and presentation on developing a Python program to measure evidence of the earth’s splitting apart.

Omer Ahmed, a sophomore majoring in computer science, won second place and $500 for a project using artificial intelligence to locate errors in computer programs.

Nate Carter, a junior majoring in electrical engineering, won third place and $300 for his presentation about implementing virtual reality in CITI human research protection training.

Dean praised the months-long symposium experience for helping him hone his presentation skills with coaching from expert faculty members, like Scales. “It helps seeing that there are other Black men doing research just like me,” he said.

Two new awards named for Virginia Tech luminaries also were presented at the conference.

Frederick Paige, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, won the Tremayne “Trey” Waller Student Advocacy Award, given to a faculty or staff member who’s made exceptional efforts to nurture, guide, and empower Black students to excel both academically and personally.

Nominator Linsey Marr, the Charles P. Lunsford Professor and University Distinguished Professor, said Paige is an inspiring leader and advocate for Black male students and the broader community. Among his many accomplishments: counseling minority first-year engineering majors in their transition from high school to college, organizing basketball leagues for students, inviting Black students to co-present with him at conferences, contributing to student development in the Kwame Ture Leadership Academy in Africana Studies, and co-founding Virginia Tech Digging in the Crates, an award-winning program that uses hip-hop culture to engage students in research, writing, and community development.

“Dr. Paige takes advantage of every opportunity to help Black male students advance their careers, and his service enriches and strengthens our community,” said Trey Waller, director of graduate student programs in the College of Engineering and the award’s namesake.

The Tommy Amal Student of Excellence Award for Leadership and Service, named for former BMEN assistant director Tommy Amal, was presented to Emon Green, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics, and economics.

Green serves as the president of the Black Organizations Council, the political action chair of Virginia Tech's NAACP chapter, and the editorial director of Elevate, a Virginia Tech student-run magazine that uplifts ethnic minority voices. Green also founded his own organization, Black Mindedness, aimed at cultivating a community of service-oriented leaders to resolve challenges facing Black America.

The Uplifting Black Men Conference wasn't limited to Virginia Tech students. For 100 high schoolers who participated as part of an on-campus weekend sponsored by College Access Collaborative, observing and interacting with high-achieving Black male students and faculty members inspired new confidence. 

“It’s invaluable,” said Tyrone Byrd, executive director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for Arlington Public Schools. “Kids come here and they develop connections with people around them who are also committed to their future — not only peers, but adult African American men whom they can look up to.”