The Percy E. Sutton Urban Male Leadership Academy (UMLA) aims to empower and support young Black and Latino male students through rigorous academic and personal support over the course of their college careers.
UMLA is funded through the CUNY Black Male Initiative (BMI), which has strived to increase enrollment rates of African American young men in CUNY schools since 2004.
UMLA strives to support the academic, personal and professional growth of our students through:
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To facilitate the transition to college life and work, each incoming UMLA freshman is partnered with a UMLA upperclassman who provides individual guidance and support throughout the year. Freshmen are also given the same course schedules to foster connection with fellow UMLA members and create an in-house academic support team.
The UMLA program is committed to offering leadership and professional development opportunities within and beyond Baruch College. Additonally, the young men run the UMLA Advisory Board which oversees the program’s day-to-day agenda, as well as organizing special events and conducting high school outreach. The advisory board consists of several posts that the young men are elected to each year.
As a school with a nationally renowned business program, we realize the vital importance of career exploration and professional development in today’s market—especially for young men of color.
For this reason, UMLA attends citywide events like the Black Male Initiative Conference, and hosts various workshops and panel discussions throughout the year to provide students with opportunities to network with established professional men of color.
UMLA holds personal, cultural and professional enrichment workshops one Saturday a month each semester to offer a safe space for students to discuss and analyze relevant issues in their lives. The program and its workshops are framed within an anti-racist and anti-oppression lens which explores the impact institutionalized racism has on communities of color in the United States. Each workshop is co-faciliated by Black and Latino male clinical social workers. Additionally, workshops are a space for students to proactively plan their academic, personal and professional futures. Workshop topics include:
“The UMLA Program has made me become more responsible, more serious about school and has given me the courage to express my feelings and thoughts to others…The workshops have helped me understand the meaning of a man and negate all the stereotypes associated with what a man of color should be in life.”
“I noticed since my involvement within the UMLA Program, I have more of a sense of awareness around others and have become more mindful of other people’s opinions…The program provides me with the support and networking [skills] needed throughout my career development.”
“The UMLA workshops have allowed me to expand my ideologies as to what it means to be a man and have influenced me to think more about my community as a whole.”
“The UMLA Program has helped me transition from high school to college by surrounding me with empowering people. Being around people that encourage me to continue to go to school and further myself even through the hardships has helped me succeed today. On a social level, the UMLA Program has established standards for me. When we compare GPAs and I see that someone has a higher GPA than me, it makes me want to do better…the program has given me a support system for motivation.”
"The UMLA workshops have made it easier to expose or talk about ideas that are rarely talked about. For example, I remember during a workshop we discussed how hard it is to tell our fathers that we love them. We explored the irony in how it is so hard to express affection to someone that is so fundamental and close to us in our lives. What made the moment enlightening is that everyone felt the same way about the subject, which led us to bond more in a sense."
“Being in the UMLA program helped ease my transition by starting the year with a group of friends that supported me through college. The hardest part about leaving high school and going to college is leaving your friends behind, but this wasn't such a huge issue for me because the friends I made the summer before college have stuck with me since and have helped me through the challenges of college work.”
"The greatest asset I gained from UMLA is confidence to take advantage of great opportunities when they come. Before this, I was always hesitant to take opportunities because I was afraid I wouldn't be good enough. I've grown to be more outspoken and less afraid of what people think about me or my opinions. I am closer to fully getting out of my comfort zone."
The workshops have helped me mature to become a better me. Workshops on racism, relationships, what it means to be a man, etc., have all shaped me some way and my view of this world. They have also provided a place for me to vent or share my deep thoughts, which is very therapeutic for me.
“When UMLA took a chance with me, it gave me an opportunity to not only grow as a student, but as a person. I began putting myself in situations where I would have never been able to be in the past. I thank UMLA for giving me the chance to grow.”
"[The greatest asset I’ve gained from the program] would definitely be the brotherly bond that developed among the members of my cohort, and even with the [2010] cohort as well. We all help each other…Sometimes we joke around, but the genuine care we have for each of our UMLA brothers is there and that is something an incoming student needs when entering a new atmosphere-- a backup."
“I believe that the greatest asset that I have gained through the UMLA is confidence. Through the UMLA workshops I have been able find out who I am and it has helped me redefine what I want to do in my life. ”
"UMLA is a brotherhood where fellowship cultivates within a very short period of time – primarily during your freshman year. While experiencing the grandness of the college setting you will endure challenges very similar to others in your UMLA cohort. This permits you all to grow closer as a cohort and, perhaps most importantly, allows you to grow more comfortable as a college student. Quite candidly, I could not imagine being as successful as I have been at Baruch College had it not been for the endless support of the Urban Male Leadership Academy. "
To be eligible for UMLA, students must be incoming freshmen and meet several program requirements.
To be a part of the Percy E. Sutton Urban Male Leadership Academy, you must:
For more information or to obtain a UMLA application, please contact Kristy Perez, UMLA Program Director at kristy.perez@baruch.cuny.edu or call (646) 312-4630.
Percy E. Sutton Urban Male Leadership Academy
Baruch College
One Bernard Baruch Way
(55 Lexington Avenue at 24th Street)
New York, NY 10010