The purpose of Call Me MISTER (Men Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models), according to program director Maurice Carter, is to “recruit, retain, encourage and mentor young men who want to go into the area of education,” and the program’s sixth annual Silent Auction and Banquet was held in support of this sentiment. This year’s event took place in Dorrill Dining Hall’s Lee Grand Dining Room on Friday, April 19. In addition to the silent auction and banquet, the 2013 MISTERs were inducted at the event. Call Me MISTER has been established at Longwood for eight years, according to Carter. Dr. Deneese Jones, former dean of the College of Education and Human Services (CEHS), helped spearhead the university’s program after reviewing the original program at Clemson University in South Carolina. Longwood’s program is in partnership with Southside Virginia Community College, Saint Paul’s College, Prince Edward County Public Schools and Cumberland County Public Schools.
Peggy Ward, administrative secretary to the dean of the CEHS and a major organizer of the silent auction and banquet, said Call Me MISTER is “designed to increase the number of available teachers from disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities. The program strives to increase the number of African-American males in the education field, which is less than two percent nationally.” Carter added that a primary aim of the program is to “provide some professionalism, some help, particularly students who are going through the university, and to become what they’d like to become, which would be educators.
” MISTERs-in-training go through what Carter described a “year-long stringent course seminar of mentoring, and then after that year they have a formal induction [at the banquet] so they can truly become a MISTER.” Carter said public recognition was an important part of the banquet’s purpose because the program’s members wanted “our neighbors, our friends, the campus to see that there are some very distinguished young men who want to become educators and that they solicit their help.” Carter also said the event gave the MISTERs a chance to effectively establish connections because, “as these young men are talking, they get to network with some of the leaders in their division.”
Alexander Morton, who was inducted into the program last year and is pursuing a secondary education major at the university, agreed that this particular event, among others, provided MISTERs with networking opportunities. “From the get-go I could tell that I was going to learn a lot because I could see a network happening with older MISTERs and newer MISTERs coming together and learning and trying to help one another on their path to their calling,” Morton said. Cainan Townsend and Devon Johnson, both MISTERs-intraining and liberal studies majors, were the masters of ceremonies. Dwayne Morris, a 2008 MISTER, sang “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” for the banquet attendees.
Carter also thanked Ward on behalf of himself and the rest of the MISTERs with a floral bouquet. Carter said that Peggy Ward “gave me friendly nudges when things needed to be done and swift kicks when things needed to be completed. Without her help, I think that this year would not have been as successful.”
According to Ward, the silent auction raised $1,706 in proceeds. The MISTERs also received $1,000 from Lacy Ward Sr. in memory of Grace Scott Ward to aid them with the cost of their professional tests. Overall, the auction raised $2,706 for the Call Me MISTER program. The night ended with the annual induction ceremony. The 2013 Inductees were Delano Green, president of the program, Bracey Wright, Bryant Winbush, Jawaad Douglas, Jalen Jackson and Malcolm Williams. The new inductees ended the ceremony with a confident recital of the Call Me MISTER vision statement: “From the time I was created, I was made to be a leader. Since the day I was born, I have been a man of influence. I am a leader because of what's inside of me. I am on the path to my calling because I have vision. I am have knowledge, I know my history and I am prepared to serve. So when you address me, do not minimize my destiny, but please, please celebrate my great calling!
