Facts make for good arguments, but people are made of opinions. I cannot state this for a fact, but I am of the opinion that it takes men to successfully raise men. It has been my experience, both personal and observed that a strong male role model greatly increases the chances of success in life for young men. This is true especially for African American young men because a strong male role model is too often a luxury item in the communities some of us come from. Some will read this and say that they are the product of a single parent, matriarch household and come out well enough to make it to Hampton University. To that I say, touché. With that said however, I believe it would be hard for anyone to deny that they are benefits young men gets from seeing a figure that they can relate to, has at least the same trials and problems if not the same views and opinions, and is not necessarily a father figure but is at least a “lighthouse” when decisions need to be made. A lighthouse can be defined as a tower or other structure displaying or flashing a very bright light for the guidance of ships in avoiding dangerous areas. It can be viewed as a person sends out light from where they are placed to guide those out in sea to avoid dangerous situations or areas.

There were  about 51 students of Hampton University inducted into Honors College with me, 11 of them (including me) where young men. They are known as Marcel Wallace, Charles Todd, Anthony Starks, Craig Stanley, Jason Sherer, Niko Weaver, Jeffery Eugene, Ianandra Booker, Steven Ballard, Isaiah Ares-Batko, and me, Dwayne Kwaysee Wright. The 21% of new inductees represented by the male gender falls far short of matching Hampton Universities already astonishing 1:3 male to female ratio. Meaning that there are slightly more females that were new inductees to Honors College, then they were proportionality females in the freshmen class.

I am sure the males inducted into Honors College in the spring of 2008 will do their best to improve the University, better the community, and reach a standard of excellence that will make them lighthouses for their peers and eventually the classes that will be inducted after them. My call is for the current male members of Honors College to be more of lighthouse to us. Yes, we saw a few of you during orientation week, and those who were there did an outstanding job. We may see you in the occasional school forum now and then, or at a function specific to your major. We know that you have excelled and inhabit copious leadership roles in numerous organizations and clubs.

Ok, but how many of you when at a forum or stand up to speak at a meeting actually introduces yourself as a member of Honors College? How many of you, that were at the induction, took a couple of the new guys numbers and actually then called to find out how things were going? How many of you where not at the induction tried to find out whom the new guys were and what they were all about? Now some may say this is simply not their job or responsibility. Some may claim that doing such this will not make a difference anyway. While this may or may not be true, we all as new members represent the old members as much as they represent us. As modest or as immense a representation that may be, it should be enough to make showing and giving a little extra acceptable. You don’t really have to go that whole extra mile either; you don’t always have to be your brothers’ absolute keeper to make the necessary influence. Sometimes all young men require is a friendly nudge from a familiar face, rather than a babysitter. This not at all meant to call my brothers out; rather it is designed to get us all thinking. The ocean that is this life we all live in at our home by the sea is vast, why not be a lighthouse?