Judge Mathis opens symposium with call for mentorship, support

Judge Greg Mathis opened the fourth annual Black Boys and Men National Symposium with a message to attendees to lift up young Black people through mentorship, structured households and love.

And Mathis, known to millions who watch his TV show "Judge Mathis," spoke his own truth. The Detroit native grew up in a single parent household with three siblings. His mother worked two jobs but provided structure, he said, through strict household routine, school and church.

Yet he was a high school dropout and jailed at 17 on a gun charge. When he was released from jail, Mathis said his cousin, who attended Eastern Michigan University, asked him to enroll and join him on campus.

"He allowed me to escape my environment, which at the time was either prey or predator," Mathis said. "We need to pull young people out of their environment, and a mentor can do that. We have to show them that we love them."

Grand Valley's Division of Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach sponsors the symposium, which continues through June 13. Participants will have opportunities to understand the systems that impact the lives of Black boys and men, in order to deconstruct and rebuild for their success.

President Philomena V. Mantella welcomed more than 400 symposium attendees to the JW Marriott. She said the symposium, which continues at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, aligns with the university's mission to break down barriers and create opportunities for learners. 

"We have the collective power to keep moving forward. Education must be a key part of this work, and we must come together to create sustainable change," Mantella said.

B. Donta Truss, vice president for Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach, said the symposium comes at a critical time and cited the country's mental health crisis as one example. 

"Yet there is a stigma among Black men and lack of access that keeps too many from getting the help they need," Truss said. "Our young men are not broken, they are brilliant. When we remove barriers to those who are impacted, we all become better."

Mathis served as a district court judge in Detroit and, after retiring, opened the Mathis Community Center in Detroit. Through his nonprofit, Young Adults Asserting Themselves (YAAT), thousands of Detroit area youth have received career opportunities, job training and college enrollment assistance. 

"Our children cannot fail us. We have failed them," he said. "Our challenge is to give equitable resources to youth, then we will overcome. We need to fight for educational equity, then we will overcome."

Judge Mathis speaks to media