All-Male Black Private College

My name is Jerome Saint Guillaume. I am a student at Titan College. It's a small private school located in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It's also unlike any other school in the planet. You see, Titan College is an all-male college. There used to be many all-male colleges in America, but in the 1970s, most schools went coeducational. Titan College remained all-male, which astonished many but that's the key to its success. Men attending Titan College are preparing themselves to become the leaders of tomorrow. They're provided with an exceptional education. That's why so many of them become successful. Titan College has produced eleven United States Senators, five Governors and twenty nine Congressmen. It has also produced countless CEOs. So, what Titan does absolutely works. And we're never going to change. No matter what the Powers That Be say.

On the subject of single-sex education, I don't know what the fuss is about. Seriously. Why change what works? History and science have proven that both men and women learn best in single-sex private educational institutions. Many of the men and women attending schools like Harvard or MIT came from single-sex private schools. Single-sex education works. It produces the most successful people of the world of tomorrow. It's a simple fact. There are plenty of all-female colleges in the country and around the world. Isn't that gender bias? If a place or institution is exclusively male, then the haters in the media will decry it as discriminatory. If it's all-female, then it's okay. What an ugly double standard. I mean, all-male golf clubs get bad publicity from the media yet it's cool to have an all-female beach in Italy? Give me a break!

Originally, I came from the small town of Dorchester, Massachusetts. I attended Dorchester High School. It's one of the toughest environments in the United States of America. Let's just say that I'm happy I made it out alive. I was a pretty good student, maintaining a three point ninety eight grade point average throughout high school. My senior year, I actually topped myself by making it to the four point zero range. Isn't that sweet? I didn't have anyone helping me. I'm just a young Black man living with some people who aren't very nice. My folks are gone. I live with my arrogant, bitter and perpetually angry aunt Giselle and her husband, the passive aggressive bastard known as Leonard. Like I said, they're not very nice people. I wanted to leave the house badly. And college was my only shot. I looked for a good college. I applied to UMass-Amherst and UMass-Boston. They're both great schools but I wanted something else. I just didn't know what. I checked out Boston College and Northeastern University. Again, outstanding schools but still, they didn't click with me.

I ended up choosing Titan College, a small private college founded in 1989 by Jeremiah Titan, a now deceased African-American millionaire businessman and philanthropist.

Titan College was a school with a predominantly Black student body and faculty. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I mean, don't get me wrong. I am proud to be a Black man. I am. Always. However, I'm not kidding myself about my people. I know plenty of Black men who aren't exactly nice or reliable. I also know plenty of Black women who are vicious and vindictive. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of violent women in the hood. They scare everyone, including gangsters. Their victims tend to be their own friends and family members. That's why I didn't date much when I was in Dorchester. The last thing I needed was some tough chick from the hood who might kill me over something stupid. I respected myself and my potential too much for that. That's the side of the Black community people don't like to admit. Sure, there are violent Black men out there who are gangsters and killers. There's also a lot of violent Black women who make the worst male gangster look like prince charming. They're that much worse. Isn't that sweet?

When I first visited Titan College's web site, I found myself enthralled. The school was something else. There were only sixteen hundred students, most of whom were Black. There were a few Caucasian and Asian students here and there, along with a few Latinos. The staff was made up of three hundred and seventeen men, all of whom were Black, and held terminal degrees. Titan College was a definitely Black and absolutely masculine place. I liked it already. It was good to see so many Black men in one place, doing something positive with their lives. An all-male, historically Black college located in a predominantly white town. Isn't that a hoot?

Most of the students of Titan College came from towns like Boston, Brockton, Dorchester and Roxbury. Inner-city minority students coming to a small white town. I bet they made a splash! I was thrilled to be considered by such a school. They were a private school which did not receive any federal funding from the government. However, they offered three hundred free tuition scholarships per year, and selected students from schools to receive them. Minority males were their first priority. Young Black, Hispanic and Asian men. How about that?

I won the scholarship and moved into the dorms in late August of that year. Man, it was so awesome. To be on campus surrounded by so many good-looking, educated Black men. I wish we had more places like this in America. My roommate was Hector Santiago, a tall, athletic and rather handsome young man of African-American and Latino heritage. He was such a cool guy. We didn't have much in common, but we became pals almost overnight. Hector and I came from radically different backgrounds. Hector came from Boston College High School, a private all-male high school. His father Samuel Santiago was a former professional Football player and businessman. He owned a chain of chic restaurants and private gyms in the Greater Boston Area. His mother, Helena Brown Santiago was a former Black Supermodel who was now an executive producer with one of the country's top television stations. This guy came from money. But that's not why I envied him. He came from a stable and loving home. I didn't. I was raised by a wicked woman and her mean-spirited husband. Maybe if I came from a household like the one that produced Hector, I would share his sunny disposition.

Hector showed me around the campus. The campus was larger than it looked when I first got there. We walked around the various buildings.

The Liberal Arts, Criminal Justice, Accounting, Nursing and Business Departments were housed inside a massive complex referred to as Pandemonium by students and faculty alike. A hundred feet away sat another massive building, which housed the Engineering, Biology, Computer Science and Technology Departments. I like academia but I was anxious to see the Athletic Department. I was a sports fan. I didn't play any sports in high school but I attended nearly all of the school's basketball games. Hector showed me around the Athletic Building. It was the largest building in the entire school, located next to the brand new Football stadium. Hector told me that the Athletics Department was brand new. It had been around for only three years. Titan College only recently acquired the necessary funding to get ready to compete in intercollegiate athletics. I was surprised. Titan College wasn't the richest school in the planet, though it took care of its own. Our focus was on academics, but athletics was not a distant second.

Originally, Titan College sportsmen, known as the Roaming Titans, competed in only three sports : Basketball, Soccer and Baseball. It was all they could afford. Recently, a massive fundraiser brought the school the necessary funds to build itself an athletic department to be proud of. Last year, they added Swimming, Indoor Track, Fencing, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Golf, Tennis, Rowing, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, Wrestling, Cross Country, Rugby, Bowling, Water Polo, Rifle and Archery to the list of intercollegiate sports the school would compete in. This year, the Titan College Department of Athletics fulfilled a lifelong dream by adding Varsity Football to the list of sports the school now offered.

The number of students applying to Titan College almost doubled when they added a Football team. With the addition of Football, Isn't that something? I love Football. Like any red-blooded American male of any race who's got a good head on his shoulders. Titan College was welcomed into the New England Football Conference, which included many of the region's top colleges and universities. This year, we would compete in the National Collegiate Athletics Association's lowest tier, Division Three Sports. We intended to one day rise to Division One, but for now we had to make our mark. After giving me my tour of the campus, Hector told me that he would be a starting offensive lineman on the Football team. I had no idea my new best friend was an athlete. Isn't that something?

The first time the Titan College Football team played a game, it was against Bridgewater State College. We beat them so badly it's not even funny. Over eighty percent of the town of Cape Cod attended Titan College's first Football game. All of a sudden, a Football stadium meant for twenty eight thousand people found itself filled to the max. Oh, well. If that continues, we're going to need a bigger stadium. After this first victory, our spirits were soaring high. The campus was more than thrilled. Parents and friends of the students, both athletes and non-athletes, attended the school's sports games. I was thrilled to be a part of it all. I mean, this shows me that Black men can accomplish great things. You've got no idea how this makes me feel.

All my life, I've been told that Black men are criminals. You see people, especially Black women, saying it all the time. They don't have faith in the Black man. At all. They say we're all no good abandoners and betrayers. I'm ashamed to say that sometimes I actually believed them. I mean, I wasn't raised with any positive role models, male or female. I grew up around angry and bitter women and equally angry and bitter men.

That's all I knew. Then I came to Titan College, and my view of the world changed. My view of my fellow Black men, and my own self, changed. We were not the bane of the universe. We weren't genetically predetermined to become criminals like society would have you believe. I was surrounded by a different kind of Black men these days. Black men who were doctors, lawyers, politicians, athletes and outstanding students.

No rappers or gangsters here. Just smart men trying to better themselves through education. This pleased me like you could not believe.

The Saturday after Titan College's first home game, I was resting in my dorm with Hector. My roommate was going on and on about yesterday's football game and how amazing it was. I smiled as I watched him. Hector hadn't been that animated since that time when I bought him a Game Cube. He was looking forward to next week's football game against another college or university with a Division Three Football program. Schools like Becker College, Endicott College or Curry College.

He was planning to beat them all, including Worcester State College and take on top-rated Springfield College for the Division Three College Football National Championships. I was supportive of Hector but our team was quite green, as in very new. Titan College was less than two decades old. And its Football team was in its first season. I was optimistic but urged Hector to be realistic. Since he was an eternal dreamer, he thought himself invincible. As a loyal friend, I supported him.

Little did I know that Hector would prove me wrong. Titan College took on Endicott College and defeated them twenty one to seventeen. We beat Worcester State College by only two points and Worcester Polytechnic Institute by five points. We defeated Westfield State College and Western New England College as well. Those were some very tough teams but we beat them. Our undefeated football team marched across the New England Athletics landscape and defeated team after team. We played outstanding matches, against well-trained and efficient opponents. The Roaming Titans truly lived up to their name. Unfortunately, no one's luck lasts forever.

The Titan College football team suffered its first defeat at the hands of Williams College. We lost by only one point. Could you believe it? We were sad. Hector grew angry and taciturn after the team's first defeat.

I was supportive of my best friend but Hector's not the kind of guy to open up and share when he's in pain. I respected his need for privacy and gave him the distance he needed to recover. He was in high spirits the following weekend, when we defeated Plymouth State, followed by

Norwich University and Mount Ida College. Nichols College also fell victim to us. The team traveled out of state to battle Wesleyan and won. We also defeated Western Connecticut and William Paterson. Yes, the Titan College football had rebounded and made a comeback. We marched to the Division Three College Football National Championships, where Williams College awaited us, having dispatched all of its opponents just like we had.

The Roaming Titans traveled to Williams College for this historic event. Hector went with the team and I went with them. Michael Brown, the Titan College football coach actually allowed me to ride on the bus with them, providing I kept my mouth shut and didn't make any trouble. We were about to make history. The first, and only all-black and all-male private college in the history of Massachusetts about to face off against one of the best college football teams in American history. Williams College was an athletic and academic powerhouse. It offered more intercollegiate sports than most American colleges and universities.

And they were also the only school to have beaten us. Yeah, they were impressive. However, we were determined to beat them this time. The Roaming Titans faced off against Williams College. The match was fierce. Toward the end, the score was twenty one points versus twenty one. The two teams had reached a stalemate. Until Hector stepped in, and scored the single point we needed to beat them just as we were about to go in overtime. Thus, the men of Titan College won the Division Three College Football National Championships.

We returned to Titan College victorious. The entire game had been seen on television and played all over America. We were everywhere. ESPN, CSTV, You-Tube, every media outlet you could think of. New England's first all-black and all-male private college just put itself on the map, both athletically and academically. Today, the Titan College men showed the world what they were made of. We showed the academic and athletic world that a group of young Black men with a dream could succeed. We could do anything we set our minds to. That's what makes us men.

I am forever proud of attending Titan College. Now that I know what it's like around here, I wouldn't go anywhere else. I'm going to get my engineering degree here. Hector is majoring in Criminal Justice. He's going to the Massachusetts State Police Academy in order to become a Massachusetts State Police Officer when he's done. There we are, two young Black men embarking on our college careers. Living the kind of life many Black men dream of. We're the elite. And I get the feeling that our friendship is going to be the stuff of legends. Stick around and watch what happens.