Spotlight

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Building a Brotherhood

Project CHESS Gives Its Student Participants Tools to Thrive in and outside the Classroom

In her August blog, Dean Lavariega Monforti discusses Project CHESS and the advantages it offers California Lutheran University’s and Moorpark College’s faculty and students, enabling professional and personal growth for members of both groups

Through various peer mentoring experiences, students in the Project CHESS Men of Color Initiative bond with fellow students from similar backgrounds. Participants meet throughout the academic year, once a week for about an hour for a zero-credit seminar course, where they learn about topics including professionalism and leadership and how these concepts apply to their lives. 

“For our participants, it’s building a lot of leadership skills in mentorship work and being able to translate their own lived experiences to others and be able to take that forward,” says Dan Tillapaugh, Ph.D. Dr. Tillapaugh, department chair in the Department of Counselor Education in the Graduate School of Education and an associate professor of Counselor Education, served as faculty coach from 2019-2021 for the Men of Color Initiative with his colleague Heidi Coronado, Ph.D.

“Mentorship is part of our curriculum, and we train and prepare students for that,” agrees Project CHESS Director Silvia Neves, Ph.D. 

According to Dr. Neves, Cal Lutheran and Moorpark College contact prospective participants when they are first-years, so they can learn from upperclassmen enrolled in the university and forge ties with other students who have experienced similar circumstances. This academic year, the program has 23 new students participating, 12 from Cal Lutheran and 11 from Moorpark College. Unlike the 2020-2021 academic year, students in the Men of Color Initiative will convene in person this year, not virtually.

“For the fall, we’re going to be meeting on campus for the seminar. A male faculty member serves as the main mentor for the students, and two students from the Department of Counselor Education will do their internship in the project,” confirms Dr. Neves.

One student quite familiar with the Men of Color Initiative is Jesus Raya. A Cal Lutheran senior who is a dual major in philosophy and political science, Jesus joined Project CHESS during his sophomore year, and he believes it provides an encouraging environment for him and his fellow students.

“We all come from similar backgrounds. It is in these moments that we can ask questions that we may be too afraid to ask otherwise,” he says. “Questions that the world would tell us, ‘Oh, you should know that already’ that are simple to some but not to us. It is the safest place to actually go out and say, ‘Hey, I actually don’t know how to fill out my FAFSA,’ or ‘Hey, did you know about this event that is going on campus?’...I feel like the empowerment that comes from CHESS stems from the ability to speak safely and inquire among friends.”

Dr. Neves emphasizes the Men of Color Initiative concentrates on empowering participating students through personal connections. “Our main focus is not academic; it is on creating this support network, more like an emotional support group, for the students.”

Finding Power and Strength in Identity

Project CHESS provides a space where students can check-in on their emotional wellbeing and explore their identities.

“We focus a lot on mental health, which, I believe, is also the reason I fell in love with it,” Jesus admits. “Mental health is a huge thing that’s neglected not only in Hispanic communities but also within the male gender. If we're lucky, we might hear about the importance of seeking mental health services at school or through social media, but the truth is, it is still a taboo practice among many people in our community.” 

In meetings, students might practice breathing exercises, express gratitude, or give helpful advice on coping with academic-related anxieties. Jesus reveals some of his peers have conveyed concerns about their grades or going to the library alone. “We’re like, ‘Just go to the library!’ or ‘We could go together as a group,’ or we’ll say, ‘You know what…if the library isn’t for you, go to Starbucks [on campus] and just sit there and do your work, if that helps you.’”

The group additionally helps the students to examine their identities as both men and men of color and provides them with a space to consider the challenges they individually and collectively confront as traditionally underserved students. 

Jesus says these questions helped him to grow as an individual and “unpack” issues he has faced as a Hispanic male. During his first year in the program, he asked questions like “Why do we keep talking about issues of oppression instead of focusing on empowerment or ways of overcoming the barriers we’ve identified?” He admitted that this apprehension came from years of feeling like he could not talk about his experiences. Eventually Jesus understood he and his peers have encountered similar challenges and talking about them allowed him to feel more comfortable at California Lutheran. 

“I used to feel like I had to carry myself or felt the need to to act or portray myself in a certain type of way to feel like I deserved to be on campus or to be doing the things I’ve been doing [academically]… We are a small group, but in this oasis of like-minded people, I find that there is power to be found in our identities and in our reliance on our communities.”

Discussing shared experiences allows the students to uncover hidden strengths. “A lot of times, our classes were like group sessions where we could talk in a brave space about vulnerabilities,” says Dr. Tillapaugh. “The men talked about the things that were challenging to them on campus – the microaggressions they face. The racial climate on campus. We recognized the men have so much resilience, and they have a commitment to education and to their goals.” 

Paying It Forward

Dr. Neves notes that 61 students have participated in the program with 30 hailing from California Lutheran and 31 from Moorpark College. Some have graduated, while others, like Jesus, still partake in the program.

The Men of Color Initiative fortified Jesus and put him on the path to success in his studies. Through the program, he learned about and completed the McNair Scholars Program, where he gained experience in research, as well as the Oxford Study Abroad Program. He is currently applying to joint programs to receive a Juris Doctorate and Ph.D. in philosophy. Initially, Jesus wanted to be a public defender, but now sees several career possibilities in his future, specifically within the realm of academia. 

“There are a lot of ways to continue my activism through scholarship. I hope to find myself with an academic career in philosophy or law, where I can work as a professor and write about the challenges facing my community and respond with normative ways of overcoming these challenges.”

Regardless of what he decides, Jesus wants to use what he learned in Project CHESS to empower others from communities like his. “I want to continue mentoring students from historically marginalized backgrounds to help them reach their full potential,” he says. “I want to take the practical stuff that we’ve been doing at CHESS and really expand it outside our school.”

What would he tell his first-year counterparts at Moorpark College or Cal Lutheran who might hesitate on whether to participate in the Men of Color Initiative? 

“Do it. Just do it. I did hesitate. I got the email my freshman year, and I was like, ‘I’m not so sure,’” he discloses. “I wish I would have done it all four years. I wish I would have started from the beginning. I think, specifically at Cal Lutheran, it’s always good in terms of creating a community. You know the other members, and they will push you. It’s a brotherhood. It will push you to be the best that you can be.”

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