Robert Kelly remembers his freshman year at the University of West Georgia well. Like many Black students new to the culture of the college campus, he felt lost. But thanks to the African-American Male Learning Community, he was drawn into a group of 25 young men aiming to meet the challenge together.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” says the young man from Stratford, Conn. “But we came together, bonded and felt the comfort of having one another’s back. It eased us into the process of dealing with college studies, and as a result we stayed together.”

That African-American Male Learning Community, started four years ago by Dr. Said Sewell III, is part of the Center for African-American Male Research Success and Leadership. The center addresses challenges faced by Black male students in the academy through several initiatives, including a leadership development program and a precollege summer conference. Last year, the center and its learning community were honored by the Georgia Board of Regents with a “Best Practices” citation for innovation.

Unlike learning communities founded around various subjects, the program is focused on Black males, a student segment that has been plagued nearly everywhere by high dropout rates in the freshman year, according to a statewide study by the board of regents. Other elements of West Georgia’s retention program help students keep up and push harder toward graduation success.

The good news, say West Georgia officials, is that Black male students introduced to the school through the center, have stayed in school, drawn better grades than before, and in various ways shown better adjustment to college. Obviously growing in comfort and self-confidence, they have shown exceptional leadership skills. Six of them have been elected to the student senate. School records indicate that the mean grade point average for students involved in the center’s learning community is a 3.0, while that of Black male students who are not involved is a 2.65. Additionally, of the 25 Black male students who enrolled in the initiative four years ago, 22 are still enrolled at UWG.