PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (March 2, 2020) – On a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon, Prairie View A&M University band members, cheerleaders, and dancers offered a roaring, spirit-filled welcome to the inaugural class of the Miles Ahead Scholars (MAS) Program, created by State Sen. Borris Miles (D-Houston) for Black and Hispanic male high school students.
“My intent is to get them out into the world and into a college. All I’m trying to do is redirect the prison pipeline of young men of color from the prison to the colleges,” said Sen. Miles. “Hopefully, that will enhance our communities and bring back needed resources to our community instead of incarcerating these young brothers.”
Mark Pearson, PVAMU’s director of Student Recruitment, said the university planned a strategic day for the boys coming from Houston on their journey to a better life.
“The reason why we have the band, the cheerleaders, and all these folks here is because you guys matter to us. Your success matters to us,” Pearson said during the Experience PVAMU Welcome.
Nearly 60 boys from Wheatley, Worthing, and Kashmere High Schools in Houston I.S.D. comprised this inaugural class of 9th– and 10th-grade boys. On Feb. 29, they journeyed to “The Hill” with their parents for their first college tour to quench their thirst about the possibilities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, or STEM.
“What Senator Miles’ team asked us to do was focus on the STEM discipline because that’s what they’re interested in. To give them a little taste of college life but also help them realize that it takes good grades to get into a college like this,” Pearson explained.
The MAS tour included a stop to the new Panther Collaborations and Innovation Commons on the 3rd floor of the John B. Coleman Library and sessions in the School of Architecture Fabrication Center, Undergraduate Medical Academy (UMA) (on preparing the next generation of physicians), and the Electrical Engineering Building (on how engineers are solving real-world problems).
“I want to major in science technology or engineering. I think it’s amazing! They have good programs,” said Jeffrey Aguirre, a sophomore at Worthing High. “Mr. Alanis told me that if I wanted to get into this program, that I was going to get into a not just a good college, but a top-tier college. So, today, I learned a lot about PV, and [it] looks pretty nice.”
The “Mr. Alanis” Jeffrey referred to is Humberto Alanis, who is one of three program managers for MAS. He said this visit to PVAMU and the college experience was critical for the boys.
“This work of getting young men of color into college is something I’ve been passionate about ever since I realized it was a problem as an undergraduate at The University of Texas [at Austin],” Alanis said. And he’s also pleased that tour was offered in Spanish.
Alanis said, “Our non-English-speaking parents need to be receiving this information as well because we’re working as a team. And, if they don’t receive this information because there’s a language barrier, well, that may set their sons behind. We want to put them on a fair playing field. That’s why we knew it was extremely important to get this tour in both English and Spanish.”
MAS requires parents to sign a contract to be actively involved with their sons. Demetrice Booker willingly signed up to support her son Braylon, who wants to be a veterinarian.
“Because my son is academically intelligent, he looked for the MAS program, and being that he is a young black man, I think this program will help him tremendously,” Demetrice said.
As for Braylon, he was impressed with the student ingenuity he witnessed in the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering.
“It was cool. The students were sharing what their experiences [have been] in creating their projects,” the Worthing High 10th grader said.
A Caring Community
The PVAMU experience for the boys and their families had three main goals: academics, campus life, and supportive community.
And the “PVAMU Cares” message resonated with Tammy St. Andrews, whose 16-year-old son, Christian Zeno, is a scholar.
“Oh! It is really breathtaking. The atmosphere feels so real and dedicated, like people care. You see smiling faces and students not stressed out. It was amazing,” St. Andrews said with joy. “I went to a community college. So, it was just amazing to know that my children get to see that you can actually go to a [four-year] college, regardless of your background, or where you live. You can still go to college and become whatever you want. Like I tell them, literally, you are the only one that can limit you. So, it’s been like making me think about continuing my education.”
Her son Christian was just as in awe about the entire day.
“It was very intriguing. The whole thing. I love the college and all of its colors,” said the sophomore who’s on the junior varsity basketball team and runs track at his school. “I thought it was just a typical, average college. I didn’t know they were a D1[Division 1]. It’s like, way different. I am now looking at [PV] way differently.”
The Miles Ahead Scholars capped off their college tour by heading to the “Baby Dome” to meet President Ruth Simmons and to watch PVAMU men’s basketball team take on Alabama State University. The Panthers defeated the Hornets 65-58.
In addition to PVAMU, the Miles Ahead Scholars Program plans to visit colleges in Washington, Louisiana, and California this spring. Visit www.houstonisd.org/mas for more information about MAS.
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By Michael Douglas