Reaching out: Men's program works with other schools
I realized I could get a lot from my mentor. He gives me personal advice as well as academic advice. Personal problems affect how you do in school. My mentor has been in a lot of the same situations I'm in and can empathize.
The Men's Program philosophy
Down in the very center of our innards we humans want to find our niche in life, a place or framework where we belong. It is there that we can open up and dream.
But if we don't feel safe, we won't grow to our full potential and that is where Warren Brown, Bret Burkholder and Ed Leitner have found a mission with male students.
"It's about the diversity and special needs of all learners," Burkholder said. [Our culture] tends to put men in what Pollack calls 'gender straightjackets' in his book Real Boys."
Brown has joined Burkholder and Leitner in building on their groundbreaking research, now seven years old. Burkholder and Leitner tried to figure out why male students seemed to be failing at a higher rate than female students. Their conclusions drive the passion evident in their discussion of men's issues.
According to the instructors, the cultural practices that teach boys at a very young age to close off their emotions isolate them as men in a world that expects them to fend for themselves with little interpersonal support.
"(The culture) also communicates to men that they are expendable. Think of who we send off to battle or to do dangerous work," Burkholder said.
![[photo: Ed and his mentee in Ed's office, the walls covered with pictures of baseball players]](images/edjoeoffice.jpg)
Ed Leitner with Joe, a Pierce College student.
Taking it on the road
Not only has this trio continued the Men's Mentorship program into its eighth year, but they are taking their message on the road.
"Private school educators 'get it' in a big way," Burkholder said. "Public school educators 'get it' but are very aware of the political sludge they'd have to plod through to make changes."
Concordia Lutheran School has had the men come for several all-staff trainings now and they are scheduled for another presentation April 30. Presentations have been given at Kent, Franklin Pierce High School and Pacific Lutheran University. The three Puyallup instructors have presented recently at The Evergreen State College for a group of higher education professionals wanting to be proactive.
"It's neat to see a trend of a higher level of awareness," Leitner said.
A rare awareness
And that awareness is growing. The director of counseling at Delhi College, part of the State University of New York system, was looking for other men's programs to model her college's new efforts on. The only one she could find was Pierce.
"We know of two others," Burkholder said, "but there aren't many.
"We're doing better than most higher education (institutions)," Leitner said. "But are we really about diversity and access? If there was no awareness (of men's issues) - okay. But it is more troubling when there is awareness and no action."
But once we are aware, what action to take? Leitner and Burkholder suggest an acknowledgement that men and boys do have difficulties and the responses can be based in part on some of the models pioneered by the women's movement, such as men's centers with a number of supportive connections available. Programming such as issue forums are another way to address the issues. Scholarship funds targeted toward men could also help in some cases.
Some of the responses, though, don't cost a thing. Burkholder pointed out some of the more masculine items in the décor of his office. Leitner said his baseball card collection has started many a conversation. They have also learned from experience to use a slightly different vocabulary to start conversations with male students that has helped build trust more quickly. (Example: Talking to the student about an 'opportunity' with his grades rather than a 'concern.')
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