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Newly elected Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber began work the day after his election by honoring a previous commitment. On Wednesday morning, he attended the Advisory Board meeting for ��«Ӱҵ’s M2M Minority Male Leadership program at Jackson Campus-Academic/Technical Center.

Yarber, a mentor and member of the M2M Advisory Board, had already been scheduled to speak at the meeting for board members, mentors and ��«Ӱҵ students who are being mentored. He said that he is grateful for that opportunity.

“We are very honored that Mr. Yarber made time for a visit to ��«Ӱҵ after a busy, and likely exhausting, election day. To me, it signifies that he values and understands that education is the foundation for all good things. We look forward to working with his administration,” said Dr. Leroy Levy, dean of the campus.

The Minority Male Leadership Initiative (M2M), based at ��«Ӱҵ’s Jackson Campus-Academic/Technical Center on Sunset Drive, provides leadership training, career counseling, tutoring, mentoring and opportunities for travel to senior level universities for program participants. The four-year project is designed to increase the graduation rates of African-American Males and is funded by a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education

“This is an extremely important program — the opportunity to mentor young men who have a heart and a passion to be better today than they were yesterday. For you to step up to the plate and decide that you want to be a part of that it is huge,” Yarber told the other board members and mentors. “I want to encourage you not only to be a mentor according to the script we were given but to do extra, the above and beyond, the kinds of things we know it takes for the young men to have the opportunity to not only make it but succeed exceedingly, abundantly.”

Addressing JATC Dean Dr. Leroy Levy, he said, “Finally, I would like to say to Dr. Levy we have taken note of what you are doing over here on the Jackson Campus, and we are extremely proud of that. We are extremely proud of the fact that we are seeing young men and young women who will stand outside waiting on a bus to come and get an education. And that is huge. We do recognize it, and we look forward to partnering with you in the near future.”