NC State College of Management students receive mentorship honors - NC State University College of Management

Three College of Management students receive mentorship honors

Assistant dean received Ujima Award

Photo of peer mentor honorees May 7, 2008 - Three students in the College of Management were recognized recently for their involvement in NC State University’s Peer Mentor program, sponsored by the university's Department of Multicultural Student Affairs.

Larissa Shorter [right], a sophomore in business management, received the Mentor of the Year Leadership Services Award from NC State’s Peer Mentor Program.

Shorter said she decided to be a mentor because she “had such a good mentor” when she started at NC State. That was Brandy Bynum, now a senior in the College of Management.

Michael Moore, a freshmen in the College of Management, received the Mentee of the Year award, and Kendall Bynum, a junior in business management, was nominated for the Mentor of the Year award.

Shorter said her mentor “helped me adjust from high school to college. You always think it’s easier than it is,” she said. “She showed me a lot about the resources that the college and NC State have to offer, in terms of personal help and support.” Shorter said she especially appreciated the help offered through the university’s tutorial center.

“They let me know that even though you might not need tutoring, you can always better yourself academically,” she said. She had signed up for a tutor in Spanish and math during her first semester, “even before classes started. That helped me a lot.”

Kendall Bynum said he did not have a mentor in his first year, “so I had to fend for myself. It was okay, but it could have been better if I had someone to help me avoid the freshman mistakes. I missed class a lot, didn’t know how to manage my time. I eventually figured it out, but I didn’t want anyone else to have to go through that.”

He said he decided to become a mentor after helping with an African American prospective students’ visitation day on campus. He heard about the program while serving on a discussion panel for the College of Management, for high school seniors considering enrolling in the college.

The university’s Peer Mentor Program has been in existence since 1981, and now includes a Student Mentor Association and a Freshman Honors Convocation that recognizes freshmen of color who achieve a 3.0 grade point average or higher during their fall semester. The Peer Mentor Program serves African America, Native American and Hispanic students.

The College of Management has a Peer Leaders program, with management students helping incoming freshmen adjust to life in the college and at NC State.

David Washington, assistant dean and coordinator of the College of Management’s Diversity Initiative, was also recently recognized by the Department of Multicultural Student Affairs which awarded him the Ujima Award. Ujima, one of the seven principles or social values stressed in Kwanza, is the Swahili word for collective work and responsibility.