Last week’s Monroe College “Female Empowerment” and “Male Empowerment” events designed to motivate high school students to attend college and be productive in life were immensely successful. More than 400 girls and 325 boys from public high schools in NY City and parts of Westchester came to Monroe’s campuses to interact with mentors and hear inspiring speeches.
At the Female Empowerment Event held on Wednesday, April 18 in the Monroe Athletic Complex (MAC) on the New Rochelle campus, the keynote address was by Sukanya Krishnan, news anchor at WPIX channel 11. David C. Banks, founder of the Eagle Academies was the keynote speaker at the Male Empowerment Event, which was held on Thursday, April 19 in King Hall on the Bronx campus.
More than one hundred mentors sat at round tables talking with the young people about attending college, setting goals and priorities, time management, and balancing personal, academic, and professional lives. The mentors were college professors, attorneys and law enforcement personnel, business people, doctors, etc.
“It’s not often that young people have a chance to interact personally with positive role models,” said President Stephen Jerome who spoke at both events. “We believe that regardless of what college a high school student attends, higher education is vital for success. These empowerment events are central to the Monroe College mission and I am proud of our staff and faculty who worked so hard to make them meaningful. I’m also encouraged by the reaction of the attendees, who now have a greater understanding of what it takes to be successful.” |