Pre-registration Urged for Male Empowerment Conference at UVI

The University of the Virgin Islands and the Virgin Islands Department of Education will host a Male Empowerment Conference on UVI's St. Thomas campus on Tuesday, Feb. 8 and on UVI's St. Croix campus on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. The theme of the conference is "Man-Up: Realize your Potential - Tools and Resources for Males on the Journey toward a Successful Life."

As much in response to rising community concern about violent crime as a downward trend in the number of black males enrolled in colleges and universities across the nation, the Male Empowerment Conference will offer insight and alternatives. The primary focus of the conference is on junior and senior high school males, young men who desire to get back on the academic track, and community leaders.

The keynote speaker for the event is Farrah Gray. Gray was raised on the impoverished South Side of Chicago, where he defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14. The internationally recognized R&B singing, rapping and songwriting duo known as Rock City (brothers Timothy and Theron Thomas) is slated to perform and to share their experiences as chart-topping producers in the music industry.The internationally recognized R&B singing, rapping and songwriting duo known as Rock City (brothers Timothy and Theron Thomas) is slated to perform.

The conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8th in the

UVI St. Thomas campus Sports and Fitness Center and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10th on the UVI St. Croix campus grounds.

Online pre-registration is encouraged from the home page of the UVI website at www.uvi.edu. For telephone inquiries and to pre-register please call the UVI Office of the President at 693-1000.

More than 1,800 young men from the Virgin Islands' public and private schools, on each island, have been invited to attend the all-day networking and mentoring activity that will bring men together to identify and change commonly held perceptions about what it means to be a man. All public junior high and high school students must have signed parental permission slips and be in uniform in order to participate. Minors are not encouraged to attend. No bandanas or backpacks will be allowed. Lunch will be provided for registered school participants. Food will also be available for purchase.

Parking in the UVI Sports and Fitness Center parking lot on St. Thomas will be restricted on Tuesday. A shuttle bus will operate between overflow parking at the Reichhold Center for the Arts and the Sports and Fitness Center.

The Male Empowerment Conference is an initiative of "Brothers With a Cause," a UVI program that seeks to attract more male students to the University and provide the tools and support to help them graduate. The conference is being sponsored by the V.I. Lottery, FirstBank Virgin Islands, the Department of Human Services Division of Family Assistance, the West Indian Company Ltd. and the College Access Challenge Grant Program.

For more information about the Male Empowerment Conference, please contact Dr. Haldane Davies, special assistant to UVI President David Hall, at (340) 693-1004.

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