Other journal prompts: “If you dance to the beat of your own drum, what does that sound like? What is your reality, and who determines it?” Muldrow added.

“The whole point is to get them thinking outside the box, being more aware of how they present themselves, knowing how to write an effective argument academically,” Muldrow explained.

Her students said the program is making a difference.

“All of my classmates and I can have a civilized class discussion about the society's view on African-Americans in general, and we all are on the same terms. Even though we have known each other for a few weeks, I feel the sisterhood forming and this amazes me,” said Aquinta McCloud-Speer, an early childhood education major.

Back when Muldrow was a West Georgia undergraduate—she earned bachelor’s, master’s and educational specialist degrees there—she was deeply troubled by what she described as the relative reticence of Black women classmates.

Though Black men traditionally comprise less of West Georgia’s overall enrollment—and face their own particular challenges—they often tended to speak up more readily in class than Black females. Also as an undergraduate, she’d befriended what she deemed as several promising Black women students who ended up not making the grade.

“They weren’t doing the work or couldn’t do the work. They ended up on academic probation; they dropped out,” Muldrow said. “But I couldn’t help wondering: ‘If other students are graduating, why can’t they?’”

Those concerns—and having been taught by professors “in classrooms [where] you didn’t have to be afraid of what tumbled out of your mouth”—led Muldrow to propose the learning community.

“I know it’s only a group of 21. … But at least we can position ourselves to feel better about ourselves and to do better in college,” Muldrow said, noting that she’s also a wife, with a 20-month-old baby.

“I’ve been where they’ve been,” she added. “I’ve conformed to other people’s standards, felt uncomfortable, awkward and out of place. I’d not wanted to speak out in class, even if I had something to say. ‘What if it comes out sounding crazy and stupid?’ I want to show them what they can achieve … and that you can have it all. A marriage, a child, a career … and college degrees.”