Male Empowerment Conference Begins Tomorrow
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands -- The University of the Virgin Islands and the Virgin Islands Department of Education will host a Male Empowerment Conference on UVI's St. Thomas campus on Tuesday, Feb. 8and on UVI's St. Croix campus on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. The theme of the conference is "Man-Up: Realize your Potential – Tools and Resources for Males on the Journey toward a Successful Life."
As much in response to rising community concern about violent crime as a downward trend in the number of black males enrolled in colleges and universities across the nation, the Male Empowerment Conference will offer insight and alternatives. The primary focus of the conference is on junior and senior high school males, young men who desire to get back on the academic track, and community leaders. The keynote speaker for the event is Farrah Gray. Gray was raised on the impoverished South Side of Chicago, where he defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14. Retired NFL Defensive Back Donovin Darius, who played with the Miami Dolphins, will provide a professional athlete's perspective. The internationally recognized R&B singing, rapping and songwriting duo known as Rock City (brothers Timothy and Theron Thomas) is slated to perform and to share their experiences as chart-topping producers in the music industry. Pastor Dexter Skepple of Speak the Word Ministries on St. Croix will provide spiritual insight. More than 1,800 young men from the Virgin Islands' public and private schools, on each island, have been invited to attend the all-day networking and mentoring activity that will bring men together to identify and change commonly held perceptions about what it means to be a man. The Male Empowerment Conference is an initiative of "Brothers With a Cause," a UVI program that seeks to attract more male students to the University and provide the tools and support to help them graduate. The conference is being sponsored by the Virgin Islands Lottery, FirstBank Virgin Islands, the Department of Human Services Division of Family Assistance, the West Indian Company Ltd. and the College Access Challenge Grant Program.
