The Men of Kennis program was established in 2020 at Athens State University to increase the number of men of color in classrooms across Alabama.

“Being able to bring historically underrepresented people into our University changes how we look at things, how we talk about things, and I think that makes a huge impact,” said Dr. Catherine Wehlburg, Athens State University Provost.

The program works to support men of color on their path to becoming teachers in the state and provides a $10,000 yearly scholarship to members to help cover tuition, books, and housing.

“Less than 2 percent of our teachers (in the U.S.) are men of color,” said Dr. Darlene Turner-White, associate professor and Men of Kennis program coordinator.

In the Athens City School System, 11 educators are Black men.

Comparatively, 6 percent of teachers nationwide are women of color, according to Richard Collie, Director of Student Inclusion Initiatives.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, during the 2017-18 school year:

• 79 percent of public school teachers were white and non-Hispanic
• 9 percent were Hispanic (of any race)
• 7 percent were black and non-Hispanic
• 2 percent were Asian and non-Hispanic
• 2 percent identified as two or more races and non-Hispanic
• 1 percent identified as Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or Native American/Alaskan Native and non-Hispanic

“We provide a robust, comprehensive program to support men of color based on what we know as the best practices,” said Turner-White. “In addition to that, we listen to the gentlemen to make sure that we guarantee from professional development to faculty involvement to advising to any type of support to make sure that there’s success in this program.”

The program works with teacher candidates who are men of color “so that when they graduate, they are equipped to be effective in any environment,” said Turner-White.

“According to the research, and what we know to be true, is that every child will benefit, especially Black boys,” said Turner-White. “They perform better academically; they come to school; they want to be in school; the discipline problems are not as high; college opportunities increase, because they do perform better in classrooms (with men of color teaching).”

The benefits of having a man of color in the classroom are far reaching for Black students.

“African American students tend to perform better academically and socially, when they’re taught by a teacher of color,” said Richard Collie, Director of Student Inclusion Initiatives. “This would include, but it’s not limited to, attendance, AP enrollment, gifted and talented referrals, and college enrollment rates.”

He went on to say, “you can see a real difference when you have a man of color as head of the classroom, especially with students of color or underrepresented students as a whole.”

When a classroom has a man of color teaching, Black students have a role model “because they look like them, and that doesn’t usually happen,” said Turner-White.

“We know that men of color matter in today’s classroom because all children can benefit from being taught by a male teacher of color,” said Collie.

There are currently 27 men in the program, with 3 preparing to graduate in December who are interning locally in classrooms.

Five men have graduated out of the program and are teaching in North Alabama.

As part of the eligibility requirement, a candidate must commit to teaching in Alabama for two years.

“One of the requirements of the program is that you actually give back your time to the state of Alabama. So, for at least two years, you’ll be teaching in the state and providing that service to young students for at least two years,” said Collie. “So that’s a commitment that we ask our young men to make so they don’t just take the degree and then they go off somewhere else, they remain in the state and give back to the state that gave to them.”

To read testimonials from Men of Kennis, or to review the eligibility requirements for the program, visit www.athens.edu/academics/education/diversity-matters/.