On Sept 17th, Elgin Community College held their first meeting about the brand-new Triumph mentoring program for men of color in building E. Hosted by new staff member Erik Enders, who is the student life coordinator for student life.

So, what is the Triumph program you might be wondering? Triumph is a mentorship program to help men of color stay in college and make it all the way through college to get their certificate or degree and to see them be more successful while here. Help lead them to a successful future and show them a path where they can find a way to achieve the future they want to have. And help them transfer to a four-year university after leaving ECC.

The purpose of the Triumph program is desired to help young men be successful. The program was originally started at Triton college and expanded its offers of scholarship. ECC decided to be a part of the program wanting to bring positive aspects and new opportunities for young men to succeed in ECC.

Being new in school and introducing a new program into ECC can be hard, but Enders knows that this requires a lot of work and he’s up for any challenges. After Brittany Barber left ECC Enders is now taking over the clubs that she was once running such as BSA and the Exchange Program. Along with other staff members to keep her vision of how she wanted the clubs to be ran.

Enders goal is wanting to connect with as many people as possible while at ECC and to be a part of the family. Also, to have fun and create a safe atmosphere where students can feel comfortable enough to come to him, either having questions or conflicts, leaving with a solution or resources to the right path. Also, to feel comfortable with sharing and growing with each other and just to create a friendly open environment.

Before officially leaving Barber helped Enders get prospective students involved in the Triumph Program and so are other faculty staff members also. The importance of this new program is to increase awareness to get more students involved in a great opportunity. In expanding the program Triumph does marketing to spread the word on social media, bulletin boards, and making connections face to face by word of mouth.

“Though we didn’t have the expected amount of attendance all 11 young men that came to the meeting all signed up,” Enders said.

A requirement to be involved in the Triumph Program requires students to be men of color, enrolled in six credit hours, complete ten hours of community service, and have good financial standing with the school. When first joining male students become a prospective scholar and then become an inducted scholar. During the Triumph program, there will be a weekly meeting going over different topics, workshops, goal settings, conflict resolutions, building a personal brand (how you speak and how you treat people.), field trips, community service and more.

“If there’s ever any opportunity for someone and their reading this and realize that they need some help or assistance then reach out,” said Enders. “ If you know any man of color that is professional and think they can be a good mentor then tell them to reach out to me.”