ASA students intensely watch the short film “Red Eye” by Filmmaker & producer, Kevin Gordon.
New York, NY (12/29/09) ASA students, faculty and staff participated in the first Male and Female Initiative Program at ASA Institute on Wednesday December 16, 2009. The Dean of Student Services, Mr. Derek Jackson reaffirmed that ASA is committed to providing engaging activities that positively support the academic and social growth of all of our students. “ASA developed a Male and Female Initiative Program that has a mission of providing a system of support and relevant experiences for males and females that will ensure success academically, professionally and socially, “he said.
Filmmaker & producer, Kevin Gordon listens as the students give their views on the film, “Red Eye”.
The President, Mr. Alex Shchegol and the Senior Vice President, Dr. Alexander Agafonov has been very supportive in their vision to provide superior student support services to the students of ASA. In July, they hired the new Dean of Student Services and required that a main goal of that position was to provide various systems of support that lead to continuous satisfactory progress towards degree completion. The Dean created a new committee that is called the Faculty and Staff Student Support Committee. This committee has the following staff and faculty members that volunteer their time to support the lives of our students: Donna Dwyer, Reginald Gilbert, Gary Greaves, Jonelle Knox, Sheryl Lee, Susan Lucky, Oscar Odom III, C. Yvonne Palmer, Minire Seferaj and Karlene Richardson. Dean Jackson stated, “We recognize that it is necessary to regularly provide opportunities for the students to connect with each other, and with faculty and staff.” The idea is that these activities will improve student success and increase graduation and retention rates.
ASA’s Dean of Students, Derek Jackson speaks to a group of over 60 students in the student lounge.
The first major event involved a short film entitled “Red Eye” that was presented by the Filmmaker and Producer Mr. Kevin Gordon. Red Eye deals with several different prevalent issues in our culture, including prejudice, xenophobia and fear of black males, in a silent manner, yet it is powerful enough to be felt without volume. The movie was silent and the student lounge was completely silent during the feature presentation. The academic dialogue that followed afterward between the producer, the faculty, staff and more than sixty standing room only students was spectacular. The discussion included perception, racism, relationships, appearance, educational status and many other topics.
During the Male & Female Initiative Program; Criminal Justice Instructor, Donna Dwyer responds to a student’s question.
Students were interviewed after the program, some comments included; this was one of the biggest events I have seen at ASA.” “This was powerful, I appreciate the fact that the college is bringing more activities that support students and they included something that stimulates academic debate.” “The film was excellent and I was surprised at some of the comments that other students made, they saw things that I ignored or didn’t see. “ “I thank Mr. Shchegol for supporting this, I can see great things here at ASA, and the college is growing in front of me.
From left to right: Criminal Justice Instructor, Donna Dwyer, Dean Jackson, along with Administrative Assistant for the Criminal Justice Division,Minire Seferaj and Filmmaker Kevin Gordon hold the 1st Male & Female Initiative Program in the student lounge.
After the first event 30 new students signed up for the program which now has over 80 students. Good Luck to this Initiative it is great to see the passion that it has created at ASA Institute.
