Pathways Program – Center for Black Men’s Empowerment and Alliance

High School Students and Counselors

Black Male students who are attending a Rhode Island public high school as a junior or senior are eligible to participate in the Pathways Program. We will be recruiting through RI high schools, so interested students should speak to their school counselor and ask them to contact our Program Director, Stefan Battle, about their interest. Counselors who would like to recommend a student for the program, please reach out to us.

Email the Program Director

Non-High School Students

Although the Pathway program is focused on the recruitment of high school students, non-high school Black males can benefit and receive the opportunities and support from the program. Interested in getting your questions answered?

Email the Program Director

If you participate in Pathways you will commit to applying to the CCRI Department of Human Service area of study, Social Services – Social Work (SOWK) program. Although students recruited for Pathways are expected to begin their undergraduate experience at CCRI, you may choose to begin your undergraduate experience at RIC in the BSW program. You will benefit from either the Rhode Island Promise at CCRI or the Hope Scholarship at RIC.

Please Note: You are not able to use both scholarships.

During your academic experience in CCRI's Social Services – Social Work Associates Degree Program, you will take part in monthly CBMEA support meetings and will be assigned a CBMEA Fellow for a Brother-to-Brother mentor relationship. The meetings and mentorship are intended to support and assist you as you navigate your social work academic program. More importantly, the group experience and mentor relationship will also support your social needs as a Black man who may be triggered by topics in class and or by experiences while working toward a profession that is still dominated by White people and White women. 

Upon completion at CCRI, you will receive your Associate’s degree and commit to transferring to RIC’s School of Social Work Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program.

When transferring to RIC, you will double major in the Africana Studies and BSW programs. When you become a junior in the RIC BSW program, you may apply to participate in the BSW to Master of Social Work (MSW) accelerated program. If you are not accepted into the accelerated program, or if you would rather not pursue the accelerated track, you are then expected to apply to the MSW program.

More Details on Your Degree Pursuits at RIC

While studying at RIC, the expectation will continue for you to participate in CBMEA monthly support group meetings and your Brother-to-Brother mentor and mentee relationship. Enrolled in the Africana Studies and BSW Programs combined, you will learn the black experience of your history and the social complexity of Black peoples' lived experiences that you too live and experience. Together, the two disciplines will support your intellectual thirst and commitment to giving back as a helping professional to your race-based community. 

During your senior year at RIC, you will be expected to do a research project with a CBMEA Fellow or another member of the CBMEA team. You will be expected to fill out the necessary forms to conduct a research project through the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process. You will collect and analyze data, and compete a write-up of your findings. The final write-up of the research project will be published in CBMEA’s twice yearly online journal - Storytelling: A Journal of Race and Empowerment. A CBMEA symposium will be held to showcase students' research in the spring of each academic year.