New group called Menergy created for African American men

By Michelle Loria Alvarado

Contributor

Students arrive at a room, grab some food, and sit down in a circle, pray together, then, one by one, talk about what they have on their minds and their hearts.

“As the center of attention, we begin to address any concerns, any questions, anything that they have apprehension about and we give them the platform to be heard,” said Jeff Tate, examination specialist at FDIC and a Menergy mentor.

Menergy is a group dedicated to supporting African American males enrolled at Trevecca. The group meets once a month and allows students to open up about their struggles and get help if needed. They currently have 20 members and about 6 mentors.

“The best thing about the organization is you can just come and kind of let everything out. As college students, we go through different experiences, different adversity and conflicts throughout our collegiate career and it’s just been great to just go and kind of deflect on everything that’s been going on in college as well,” said Gary Nelson, a DBA student in educational leadership and consulting.

Terrence Schofield, ASC Provost for Mission Excellence and Reconciliation at Trevecca started the initiative because of the low retention rates of African American males on campus. The rates from the last three years are 15.38% in 2021 (2 out of 13), 18% in 2022 (2 out of 11), and 33% in 2023 (3 out of 9).

“I’m looking at the retention rates, the graduation rates for African American males from TNU, and they just weren’t favorable. So, I thought maybe these guys need some mentors. So, I started it [Menergy] last year around this time,” said Schofield.

The purpose of the group is to create an environment where African American male get help and develop their strengths in a Christian environment.

“Our goal is to develop and strengthen the characteristics of Christ in these young African American men,” said Schofield.

Schofield invites guest speakers from the Nashville area to speak about their experiences in college and to give advice to mentees.

Schofield started bringing people from the community because he wanted members to see different faces and let students see that there are people around the community who care about them.

“We got like preachers, doctors, you know, people like that, people who work in jails and community leaders, preachers, stuff like that. So, we got a good group of people that come in.” said Schofield.

The group provides a safe and supportive environment for African American men to express their struggles and seek help. Black Christian male professionals, who went through similar experiences serve as mentors and guest speakers.

“We have different guests that comes and speak every meeting,” said Nelson “Some are pastors, some are directors, some are vice presidents and just hearing how they deal with diversity from their position and how they include God in every aspect of their life, it [has] helped me grow my relationship with God.”

Eddie-Devonte Barrett is a sophomore majoring in film and television. He has been part of Menergy since the group started a year ago.

“When I went the first time, I decided to keep on going pretty consistently because I just liked the energy and having a mentor and being able to talk about my future,” said Barrett.

Mentors see the growth and change from the students involved.

“I’ve seen guys come in that’ve been kind of distrustful, become more trusting, become more open that now they’re just coming and blah [talk without stopping], and I can’t get them to be quiet now. They’re just talking about their problems and sharing within the environment of the community, and they feel like, ‘Man we got some strong African American males,’” said Schofield.