The Black Male Initiative (BMI) at the City University of N.Y. (CUNY) is celebrating 20 years of empowering Black and Latino males in higher education, marking a major milestone in serving underrepresented groups through academic and career support.
The school has had “20 years of celebrating, uplifting, and providing upward mobility to underrepresented populations, especially in higher education, and providing them with the support and encouragement for them to be successful as they go on in their respective academic careers and professions beyond CUNY,” said Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ian James — “20 years of impact and more to come.”
According to Jonathan Quash, executive director of the CUNY-wide program, the BMI was born from a model program at Medgar Evers College (MEC) called Pi Eta Kappa — an academic fraternity and honor society for urban males. It was pioneered by former MEC president Dr. Edison O. Jackson, and operated out of the college’s Male Development and Empowerment Center, which still exists today.
After seeing the success of Pi Eta Kappa and its positive impact on students, the NYC Council asked Jackson to launch a system-wide CUNY effort based the honor society design. The BMI launched officially in 2005 with the council’s financial support.
Since its inception, the program has been implemented on more than 30 CUNY campuses, with more than 8,000 participants enrolled annually. The goal, Quash said, is to increase engagement consistently with the BMI.
Photo courtesy CUNY BMI
“Programming within the BMI world allows us to stand in the gap so that students don’t have that occasion to disengage from the campus,” said Quash.
Quash knows the value of BMI first-hand: As an undergraduate student, he struggled to stay engaged in school due to being introverted. This eventually contributed to his dropping out and not obtaining his degrees until years later.
“I would never have dropped out if I had a mentor — someone to kind of pal around with me or show me what to do. I was kind of on my own,” he said. “I just didn’t connect with anyone, and one of the things that our program does, particularly at the senior colleges, is provide that engagement, so students have an opportunity to have a mentor like Dr. James did or have someone to connect to, to be that person to help them through, so that they don’t drop out.”
James, a graduate of MEC, said he spent a lot of time at the Male Development and Empowerment Center when he was a student in 2001. “I [was] in that space because of my engagement as a student leader and [realized] I could make a difference,” he said.
James said he went to school for political science, intending to break into international relations, but the center changed his trajectory in the best way.
“If I weren’t in that space, I would probably be an ambassador somewhere in some country, so no regrets,” he said. “I was happy I could be in a program like this. I’m so happy to be in a position [now] where I can give back and support the students.”
James Viafara Sanchez, a current sophomore at the college enrolled in the BMI program, offered similar praises.
“The mentorship platform that Medgar Evers provided for me has been the most essential throughout my college journey, because having experienced mentors with you can influence and guide you,” he said. “I’ve also gotten access to a lot of resources throughout my time in this program, so I’ve been able to access internship opportunities, fellowship, [and] scholarships.”
Sanchez is majoring in public administration and joined the program his first year, after being introduced to it by an administrator. Since starting, he’s had a chance to take on new roles and experiences, including becoming a student mentor for the BMI and ambassador at the central CUNY office.
“That has been really groundbreaking for me, especially as a young student, because I didn’t expect that to happen through my involvement with the program, but they’ve provided me with safety and encouragement during my time here,” Sanchez said.
Ongoing support
James also mentioned that the BMI supports students throughout their entire school journey — for as long as needed.
“We go all the way to professional school, [including] our law school or medical school,” said James. “We have the program at every institution that we have, and students who want to move on into grad school have that support.”
Part of that support, Quash said, is relieving students of any financial burdens, but it comes with challenges. He used textbooks as an example.
“We can buy textbooks for 25 or 30 students, but there’s way more than 25 or 30 students looking to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT),” he said. “With the grants we get, we try to get that for them, so they don’t have that financial burden, but we wish we could do much more with this.”
Quash and James said they are proud of the program’s expansion, which includes going beyond the liberal arts colleges into “programs in which there have been low numbers of underrepresented populations,” like CUNY medical schools or law schools.
For the last two decades, BMI has received most of its funding from the city. Within the previous two years, they have secured some aid from the state, and while they are grateful, more is needed to sustain the program.
“Expanding would require additional resources,” said James. “We’re doing grant writing and trying to get external grants to help with some of the other programs we are doing.”
Quash said cementing BMI into CUNY is a significant goal for the program: “a little bit more permanence in the university structure somehow, whether becoming an institute or having an expansion of the program to some degree, but I think that’s really what we’re looking at.”
The BMI holds an annual conference, which furthers its mission of providing access and opportunities to underserved students. This year’s conference will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Black Male Initiative and will be held on Oct. 3, 2025, at Medgar Evers College. Founding father Dr. Edison O. Jackson will be the main honoree.