Olive Harvey Aims To Get More Male College Graduates

CHICAGO (CBS)-- When the City Colleges of Chicago stage their commencement exercises tomorrow at the UIC Pavilion, there will be 322 graduates from Olive-Harvey College on the South Side.

Most of them are women.

Last year, when there were 210 graduates, 83 percent of them were female, and the school has been trying a new effort to get men to stay in school and graduate with an associate's degree.

The percentage of degree-seeking students has a similar disparity. Of the 5,036 students enrolled in classes for associate's degrees this year, 71 percent of them are women.

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Olive Harvey president Dr. Craig Follins started a chapter of Men of Distinction at Olive-Harvey, bringing together 13 black and Hispanic male students in an effort to have them bond and encourage each other to succeed in school and life.

Dr. Follins says, the idea behind Men of Distinction, "is to make sure that men, particularly minority men, come to college and have a good chance at being successful."

Olive-Harvey valedictorian Dwight Dawson, a 25-year old military veteran who remains in the reserves, is in Men of Distinction and says he's seen the kinds of positive effects the group can have.

He says he met one young man whose personal problems were threatening his education.

"We would talk and hang out and encourage each other," Dawson said.

The young man has stayed in school.

Dr. Follins says Men of Distinction can earn a sports jacket in the school color—purple—through their participation in the program and their willingness to be a positive example to other male students at Olive-Harvey.

The jacket is, "something you earn. It's not given to you," said Dr. Follins.

Dwight Dawson believes Men of Distinction works. He says he's "seen a change in attitude when it comes to academics" among others in the group. He says he's seen young men raise their grade point averages because of the support and mentoring offered in Men of Distinction.

Dr. Follins hopes to increase the size of Men of Distinction next year to 30 to 50 male students at Olive-Harvey.