BMC discuss various topics in fatherhood

African-American men and their roles in fatherhood was the topic of an event sponsored by Black Men for Change Oct. 18.

"Man up: Is Black Fatherhood an Oxymoron?" focused on why some African American men do not take responsibility as fathers, what causes the cycle of this behavior, and what can been done to fix this problem.

"We were talking about our personal experiences with our fathers and that's when we came up with the idea of making it one of our discussions," said Merle Murrain, the president of BMC.

"I wanted the students who attended to be able to express themselves and to learn that there are good father figures."

Throughout the program the audience made up of students and faculty talked about ways to deal with growing up in a home without a father.  

They also shared their personal stories, some positive, some negative.

Chevara Orrin said she wanted everyone to freely share their feelings and talk about possible solutions to the problem.

Orrin is the BMC adviser.

"I want to create a safe place for students to grow and to be empowered," Orrin said.

"Events like this benefit the campus community."

BMC members presented information from websites and books and provided statistics of different scenarios of people growing up without a father in the home.  

They also showed clips from "Man up: The Exploration of a Fatherless Nation," a documentary by Tonia Grady.

Orrin said she was impressed with the number of people who attended.

"We had 60 people in attendance, and 15 were women."

"This is the first time we had an open discussion with other students," Orrin said.

Grace Anderson said she enjoyed the event and hopes that BMC will do more discussions that will include the campus community.

Anderson is a junior interdisciplinary studies major from Staunton, Va.

"It is a big issue in the Black community, and it was important that BMC brought it to the forefront," Anderson said.