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Bailey a Panelist at National Conference on Postsecondary Attainment Writer: Michael Childs, 706/542-5889, mchilds@coe.uga.edu Contact: Deryl Bailey, 706/583-0126, dbailey@coe.uga.edu
Deryl Bailey, an assistant professor of cross-cultural counseling at UGA’s College of Education, was an invited panelist at a national conference titled Double the Numbers: Post Secondary Attainment and Underrepresented Youth Oct. 23-24 in Washington, D.C.
Bailey has gained much national recognition recently for his empowerment interventions for African-American adolescents which include: Gentlemen on the Move, The Young Women Scholars Program, the Young Future Leaders Program and Parents of Empowered Youth Organization.
At the conference, Bailey served on a panel titled Race-Specific Initiatives to Increase Postsecondary Attainment. The conference was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation and W.K. Kellong Foundation.
Gentlemen on the Move is a club Bailey created for young African-American men at two Athens high schools – Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central – that encourages academic excellence. The group hardly resembles most high school clubs. Members are required to attend four-hour weekly meetings dedicated to academic study and issue discussions. Once a week they wear shirts and ties to school. The group spends the weekend before final exams “locked-in” at the high school, mixing study sessions with breaks for basketball and music.
Bailey describes his group of 15 young men as members of an academic/fraternal order that teaches the lessons he learned growing up poor in Durham, N.C.
“I always knew that I had to do more than the next person,” he said.
And he admits, he has little tolerance for anything other than complete dedication.
“I want them to define success in their own terms,” he said. “But they have to move forward. They don't all have to succeed right away, but they do all have to make progress forward.”
For the guys, the group is a way to connect with each other toward a common goal. They say they're bent on shattering the stereotypes associated with the young, Black male.
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