Let's Talk UNLV

Announcer 0:00
This is a k, U, N, V studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:20
Hello, UNLV, and welcome to another episode of Let's Talk. UNLV. Welcome to the podcast where I spotlight students programs and stories that shape our vibrant campus community. Here today, we're diving into initiatives here on campus that's all about connection, conversations and communities, and the main thing that we're going to talk about today is barbershop talk. Barbershop talk is a simple but powerful idea, bringing men of color together in a familiar, welcoming space. And today I have very special guests. I have several guests today, which normally I just have one, but today I have four. So I'm very excited to have these guests here. They're going to introduce themselves, their name, the institution they're from, and you know what they do there. So we're going to start right here with my first guest.

Kendall Sanders 1:06
Hi everybody. I'm Kendall Sanders. I work at Nevada State University in the star department. I am a resource coordinator focusing specifically on transfer students.

Imani Patterson 1:18
Hey everyone. My name is Imani Patterson. I am the Senior Assistant Director of Student Diversity programs here on campus. We plan all diverse programming for our students, and I'm excited to be here as well.

Sarah Taylor 1:30
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Sarah Taylor, and I am from College of Southern Nevada, and I am a campus Operations Coordinator, helping to coordinate all the day to day operations at the campus for North Las Vegas, and I'm happy to be here.

Sean Tory 1:45
Excellent Sure. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Sean Tory. I work for the City of Las Vegas in the youth development and social initiatives department. I oversee the city of Las Vegas My Brother's Keeper Alliance program, which is which, we are one of the 44 certified cities for the National My Brother's Keeper Alliance that's under the Obama Foundation. So we do a lot of work within the community, within the school district, law enforcement and the community

Dr. Sammie Scales 2:08
organizations. That is excellent. Thank all of my guests. Thank you for introducing yourselves. And let's do this right off the top. If you for a part of d9 rep, just say your name and represent your org. Any nine members, I'm a

Sean Tory 2:19
gentleman. Let the ladies go first.

Kendall Sanders 2:21
I am a part of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated,

Imani Patterson 2:25
all right, Zetas. I'm a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, excellent

Sean Tory 2:30
greetings from summer nights in the realms of black and alcohol, keeping the flares of the light of world. We are the big brothers of the tumultuous and savage alpha alpha chapter. Oh, sorry. Alpha fraternity Incorporated. You know, I was about to tell the whole grain. And let me stop there. Alfalfa Incorporated. Yes, I was being extra. Oh, six, good brother,

Dr. Sammie Scales 2:45
all right. And I'm a member of Alpha fraternity as well, and Sean is my brother, so we're gonna dive right into this conversation, and we're all gonna take part in it here. So can anyone want to start out by telling us the backstory of how barbershop talk came to fruition?

Imani Patterson 3:02
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So pretty much, I had a few students part of the Black Student Organization. At the time, my president was a black man, black male student on campus, and he, you know, he was trying to get more male engagement at the meetings, a lot of our meetings, or a lot of just people, students who are involved are women or women identifying. So definitely, he's like, how do we get them? How do we get more men, men at our events? Then I'm like, What do you all like? What's it been like, video games, like sports we like? And I'm like, oh, maybe we can, like, like, simulate a barber shop, and then have the video games there, the food there. So we rolled it out. I say it was fall 2023 okay? I think it was fall 2023 we rolled it out, and it was a success. And now, after speaking with a few people, we're making it into a monthly series, having it more intentional when it comes to the conversation. That's where we pulled in, the city of Las Vegas and the My Brother's Keeper Alliance, but then also seeing how we could reach out to just all NC, NC institutions, starting out with Southern Nevada, and that's where Sean was like, Hey, I know somebody at NSU, and I know somebody at CSN. We all hopped on a virtual call, and now we're moving forward with a monthly series for barbershop talk for men of color at our institutions.

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:36
Fantastic. So Sarah and Kendall were, did you guys experience anything similar on your campus where, and that's what drew you into this, trying to get more men of color out, to turn out to events. Yes.

Sarah Taylor 4:49
So we have been trying to engage our male student population for men of color for a while now at the CSN campuses. And I. An activity like this is going to be great. And the collaboration as well, because it's going to be able to bring, you know, a good, bright group of men together to be able to talk about, you know, today's issues in a secure and safe environment give them a sense of belonging. And it's all the things that, again, that you know, we try to promote, and, you know, being a co advisor of the Black Student Union with two other ladies, we that's something we've been trying to, you know, manifest at the campuses at CSN, fantastic,

Kendall Sanders 5:35
prior to the position that I have right now, I used to be over all of the black student programming at Nevada State University. So we had the opportunity to host two barbershop talks under a group that we had called fame, facilitating African American male excellence. And the barbershop talks that we had were great because at the time, our male student population was little but mighty, and so it really did offer an opportunity for our male students to get together and be authentically themselves and have a space where they could be comfortable. And then, of course, due to some political shifts, we were unable to continue with that series, which is why we are so grateful for the opportunity to be able to participate in the event that Imani is throwing. Fantastic.

Dr. Sammie Scales 6:23
So Sean, how does hosting free haircuts and, you know, pizza and video games and real talk? How does that foster community here in a series of barber

Sean Tory 6:33
shop talk? I mean, even like, let's go back to the family, like, what's the one way we all commute, right? Was the food? You know, that's how you know? You know when grandma was cooking that peach cobbler, when grandma was cooking that fried chicken, or that catfish, or that catfish or that chicken, we came together as a family, right? And that's really where it comes down to, especially when you're talking about undergraduate students, who most of them are probably not making a whole lot of money, or they're away from home, and this is a way for us to give them free food, for us to commune with one another and have a genuine conversation and provide free haircuts. Because one thing that's important for men in general is our haircut like that's that's an essential tool for us. We go either once a week or every two weeks, depending on who you are, but that's why it's truly important. It gives us a sense of

Dr. Sammie Scales 7:15
home. Fantastic. That's good. So let's talk about collaborations. And I want to, I want to speak, to it from the point where Imani talked about speaking with Sean, and Sean speaking with her about getting together on a zoom call. So let's pick it up when that Zoom call took place, what happened from there, step by step, so that students understand what actually goes into a program when we present it to them. So let's talk about every aspect of that and why you wanted to collaborate, and all of the different institutions that's involved with this. So I want all of us to take part in that conversation. Let's talk about that collaboration.

Imani Patterson 7:49
So pretty much just a little bit of more. Back story, I was at a conference called in core, and that's the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in higher education. It took place in New York City. I was currently at a session at that time on men's work. Specifically, there's a name for this, right? How do we engage male students on campuses? That's called men's work. I'm like, wow. And then I got a text from Sean. I'm like, I'm actually in this session. We need to talk. So we chatted. And then we talked about, like, actually making it feel like a barber shop. He's like, Oh, you know, I know somebody that could cut hair. I actually know the owner of the original barber school. And I'm like, wow. And he was like, What are your thoughts about pulling in the different institutions? I'm like, let's do it when it when it comes to collaboration and partnership, I always like to tell people, is about pooling your resources. Yes, like Kendall said, there is a political shift going on so we might not have the same budget or opportunities to different resources like we had in the past. So how do we come together to pull all of our resources to still make something meaningful but also more impactful? Because now we have more people involved, right? So then we had the virtual call, and I'll leave it off to another person to tell the next part

Sean Tory 9:22
of the story. Yeah, yeah. So even, I guess I'll back a little bit before I text, actually, when I did hit every money, I knew what was going on. I knew what was coming. Because outside of my role at the city, you know, I do, I do a lot of stuff in the community where I'm trying to inform people like, hey, this was coming, if you this is the direction you're trying to go. So I knew right away what was happening on my personal business and also on the city's end, what was happening. So I said, Okay, let me reach out, because I still work part time at CSN with Sarah. So me and Sarah had a conversation. And then first, and then I hit Imani, and then I said, Oh, let me hit Kendall. So I hit up Kendall, and I said. Hey, can we? Let's get together? Then Kendall was telling me what was happening over at Nevada State. So I said, Oh, this is the perfect opportunity, because I know on my end, because we oversee My Brother's Keeper, we're the backbone community for my brother's keeper. We're still in safe haven with regardless of what's happened politically. So that's where I said, All right, we're gonna bring everybody together. And one of our pillars for My Brother's Keeper is ensuring students graduate with from college, from secondary education. So this was the first, this was a perfect opportunity for all for three, three major institutions in the south to get together with the with a vocational school, which is the barber shop school, because you have, you have UNLV students, CSN and Nevada State students who want to be barbers. You have barbers who want to be college students. So that's that was also Workforce Connection plug that I picked up there as well. So that's how we all we really got on that one zoom call, and she was, Oh, brother, scales. I said, Oh, I know scales. That's my frat brother. So then, boom, that's how it all came

Dr. Sammie Scales 10:56
together. Fantastic, fantastic. Kendall, I noticed you mentioned earlier a program called fame on your campus. Can you tell us? And Imani spoke about presenting something that was meaningful and impactful. Can you talk to us about what fame was like on your campus, and how did the students respond to that? And the same thing with you, Sarah, I'm going to come to you after that to speak about your campus and how the students there received that program at your school. So let's start out with Kendall,

Kendall Sanders 11:23
yes. So fame is and was so amazing. When I was a Sankofa coordinator, I was approached like, hey, we have fame on campus, but unfortunately, you know, the people that are running it, they're at their max capacity. Is there a way that you can take this on? I'm like, yeah, absolutely. But the elephant in the room, I'm, for sure, not a black male, so I'm going to have to outreach and get as much community support as possible. So with the strong and mighty male population, black male identifying population that we have on campus fame, really spent a lot of time pouring into our black males. So we had the barbershop talk, but we also had opportunities for them to do, like Career Networking, additional academic support, support within the community, finding like internships or additional resources. We planned a black meal Symposium on campus, and Sean was actually a presenter at that. So there was a lot of opportunity for impactful growth for the males on campus, and you could see it like you could see them on campus spending more time together, eating lunch together, hanging out in a lot of different spaces on campus together. And so when fame, obviously, when things shifted with fame and me being able to really run it was not you have to be more strategic. So, you know, I can't obviously be loud and proud about it as I was before, but an amazing opportunity is to be able to pass it on to the students and offer support. So what we're doing now is having fame be placed under our black student organization as a separate branch. So there's still an opportunity to pour into the black males on campus, because it is important. And so with that, we're hoping to have black males on campus who step up that want to run it, and then we can start facilitating more events through them, supporting them in any way, whether that's funding or promotion or, for example, driving the van here to UNLV so we can participate in the barber shop talk and things

Dr. Sammie Scales 13:27
like that. Okay, fantastic. And Sarah, so yes, so

Sarah Taylor 13:31
at CSN, I mean, we are, we're still kind of in progress of getting a similar program more so, like a club type of initiative underway that has to do deal with black male engagement. And we've made strides. I'm not a part of the committee, unfortunately, that is putting it together. It is, you know, male of color that are involved in it. But again, they have made strides, and they're still kind of working on progressing that program, especially, again, with the political landscape right now and how that will look, but with it, I mean, we do have, like you mentioned, we have, we do have Sankofa programs. And you know, English 102, English 101, a big pillar of our community for black students and male engagement is our BSU club. And with that again, we were able to do a lot of our mentoring. Three through BSU, it kind of revived itself. I probably want to say back in 20 I say 2023 is when it kind of revived itself. And and Sean can kind of speak to this, because he used to run Black Student Union as an advisor years ago, and he actually was the person who helped me come aboard, and now I've been an advisor, probably in that role, probably what, four years, four years now, yeah, as a PART part time advisor. And with that, I mean, the landscape has shifted with our male students, and I think we've been able to provide. Provide an inclusive space for them and stuff. Programming like this will kind of help push more initiatives forward in the future that I'm looking forward to collaborating on as well.

Dr. Sammie Scales 15:11
That's fantastic. You know, the one thing that Kendall alluded to was like making connections, and that's is a huge thing here on the campus of UNLV. So it's fantastic to know that there are other schools and institutions around us that's doing the same thing, especially what Imani is doing when it comes to barbershop talk, that we can actually collab together. And one of the great things that was said earlier, I think Imani said it as well, is collaborations, and, you know, pooling our resources together. And again, I wrote down that meaningful and impactful connection, which is something that's just been incredible sitting here. And so we talked about transportation. Someone brought up, I think you did. Sarah brought up transportation. So how are we how are you all getting your students from your campus or your institution here to UNLV? Can we talk about that portion of it?

Kendall Sanders 15:59
Yeah. So at Nevada State, we actually have a van through our student government, so we're taking, I will be driving the van here in all this crazy construction. So pray for me. I'll be taking the students here. But also, Sean is using his resources to provide us with an additional van if needed, depending on how many students RSVP so at this moment, my van is full, so we'll see, depending on who else RSVPs If Sean will be able to help us

Dr. Sammie Scales 16:29
out. Fantastic. That's fantastic. You know, one of the things you know, because I'm a black male myself, and I go and get my hair cut, so I know, when sitting in a barber shop, I know there are certain things that men are willing to talk about around other men at the barber shop. And the barber shop is like a place, like a sanctuary for men. You know, we join there. We talk about all, I mean, there's nothing off limits that we don't talk about at the barber shop. So it's good to know these young men would actually have that available to them through this Barber Shop Talk program. So let's talk about, how have students, faculty and staff responded to barbershop talk on your campus? How have the staff, like leadership and department heads and people like that? Imani, how have they responded here at UNLV and at some of the other institutions?

Imani Patterson 17:15
Well, definitely they responded positively. We're excited because, again, going back to like, pulling the resources. I'm not an expert in dialog Sean is Sean holds different community events called the men's room over king of jewels, which is his personal nonprofit. He does a lot of great stuff. If you are tapped into the community, you see his events on social media. So he's the expert in cultivating those conversations. And I feel like people were just really excited for us to bring that to campus, right? It's an opportunity for us to have a touch point on campus to cultivate those conversations. Again, Sean is trying to build out a pipeline, right? He works with middle school and high school students, so this is an opportunity for him to continue that pipeline and hit college students, right? So when those middle schoolers go to high school, they know that they have support, and when those high schoolers go to college, they know that they have that support. So I feel like us building out these pipelines of just, you know, who we know, like we're just there to bring make sure the students are there, but Sean is going to be. Sean and Dr Sammy are going to be taking care of our students, along with the barber school. So everyone's excited. I mean, who don't want a free haircut,

Dr. Sammie Scales 18:37
exactly, and so, and since we're on Sean and Sean name has mentioned, been mentioned so much here, Sean, can you paint a picture of what is like in the atmosphere where these young men are together, what kind of conversations are being had, are being had, and what's happening while the hackers are being given?

Sean Tory 18:52
So, you know, the approach really, the atmosphere is truly an inclusive one, to where we create an environment that these young men feel safe. That's the biggest part for me. And you can be transparent, one of the approaches that I do as a circle process. People know it as restorative justice circles, or I am a restorative justice practitioner, but there is circle process. There's nine different types of circles, so I always make sure to explain that first. And because I'm a PhD student, I'm not student, my apologies, I'm a PhD candidate here at UNLV. I learned a lot about restorative justice through Dr walls and MS casino Boone. So that was over four years ago, and I've implemented it within my own practice, right with my own nonprofit, king of jewels, and also with the job what I do with My Brother's Keeper when I go into the elementary, middle school and high schools. So I've been able like certain things that I was already doing for years, 12 years, mentoring, I just sharpened it by adding the circle approach, right? So that atmosphere really comes from an indigenous practice as well. Restorative justice is an appropriate practice, but when you're of the when you're from the culture, is something that is within you. So I bring that out where it's really. Interconnectedness. It's really that nurturing atmosphere to where what happens here stays here. You'll feel safe and whoever we need you to connect you with. That's what we'll do. So that's the space that we're going to be in, where you can get your hair cut, where you can play dominoes, you can play spades, and we can have a cultivated conversation about cultural capital, right? And I know that's the first topic that we're going to have. And actually, huge shout out to you for saying, Let's have that as the first topic, which I think is very important, especially for undergraduate students and graduate students and community members, to have. People are excited about this. I literally made the post a couple hours ago, and people are already sharing it. So it's, it's going,

Dr. Sammie Scales 20:37
that's fantastic, you know? And, yeah, I do like that cultural capital. That's the first topic by Tarjay Yasso, letting the students know right up front that what them coming to college just alone is valuable, and letting them know what they actually bring to campus. Because so many times students think, oh, you know, I'm just leaving home, leaving high school and going into college. I don't take anything with me, but they have so much that they bring, and we want them to actually realize that. And then we start the series from that, you know, because I think next, next one is coming up. It's going to be, yeah, October, so yeah.

Imani Patterson 21:11
And I also want to, like, make like, make sure to mention, like, even our president today at the all hands meeting said that culture is something that is has to be built. I feel like a lot of times, people come into environments expecting, yes, certain things to be certain ways and but we all have a responsibility on how we want our culture to be. So when it comes to our culture, for our male students, we have to build that. Yes, it's not just gonna come out of nowhere like it, you know, we have to build it, cultivate it, nurture it and watch it grow. So that's what we're here to do, absolutely.

Dr. Sammie Scales 21:54
And that's a great point that you made, because someone has to actually physically do this. So it just didn't, you know, if you take a cup of water and throw it out on the street, is this not going to spring up out of the ground? We have to actually do this. And so this is sitting at this table. Is a group of people that's actually willing to do the work. So when speaking of willing to do the work, Kendall, can you tell me about you had fame on your campus? Can you tell us about some of the challenges? And the same question is going to come around the table. So just be ready for it. Can you can you talk to us about some of the challenges that you faced with that particular program? Because I know for me, when barbershop talk came around here, my nerves was frazzled, because it was my very first time doing something like this. The student was so excited about it, and I kept thinking about, am I going to let them down? Am I going to let them down? And that imposter syndrome set in with me at that event. So what have you seen, or what have you faced with fame?

Kendall Sanders 22:49
I think honestly, alluding back to what Imani said, it's really building the culture and the trust when I first took on fame, I think a lot of the male students on campus were really hesitant to participate because of past experiences. And luckily, my husband, behind the scenes, helped me plan the first barbershop talk. Like, major shout out to him, because I never, I don't get my hair cut a barber shop. So I don't really know, like, how to create the culture to an environment that I don't put myself in. And I think it's really important to, like, know when as a leader when it's time to let other people lead. Like, when a space is not yours, it's okay to bow out. And so I really did outsource a lot with planning that event. And it really was just like the credibility, like when they came and they saw, I'm, you know, learning with students that your word is literally, like your credit score, like it's everything to them, yes. And so them coming and seeing like I did what I said I was gonna do, and I created this environment where they could be vulnerable and beat like all of the stigma behind that, and come and participate in this event. It really allowed for the black male students on our campus to be more trusting. So when they see more fame events, they're like, Oh, I'm gonna go to that because of the experience I had last time. And that's why this barbershop talk is so important, because it's so intentional. It's for our students who identify a certain way and they need certain things, and it lets them know, like, despite the changes that we're dealing with right now, we're still thinking about you.

Imani Patterson 24:18
Fantastic. Yeah, in Delta land, my line name is Almanac, and I'm proud of that line name. It's a book, if you don't know what the Almanac is, it's a book of resources on how and when to grow for farmers. But you know, as children, if you have seen an almanac, it has all dates and stuff like that. I say this because my role here at UNLV is to be resourceful, right? Like Kendall said, I don't need to be the expert. I just need to know where to go to get the expertise, absolutely. So that's what I typically that's my mantra. Is like, if I don't know it, I know someone. On who else that knows it, right? So that's my that's how I face my challenges here, with different programming, like you said, outsourcing and being okay with outsourcing, these things are these things need to be culturally sensitive, right? Absolutely. I don't want to emulate something that I I don't know what I'm talking about, like I went to the barber shop once. When I had my short little pixie cut, I grew it out real quick. So I only went to the barber shop once. Ain't nobody was talking to me about anything. Like I wasn't there. When it was like, barber shop Ice Cube. They going like, such the entertainer. I was not there. I did not that was not my experience. I left, you know what I mean? So definitely, we want to make sure we're cultivating just home, a sense of belonging, like Sarah said, right where they like, oh my god, I found my people, and I don't need to be the person on the mic in front of people. I don't need to be that person. Who else can be that person. That's why I reached out to certain people to make that happen. So we're excited

Dr. Sammie Scales 26:08
Absolutely.

Sarah Taylor 26:10
And I also like what you said about the outsourcing, because for me, with doing events, and especially trying to engage the African American community and black males in general, Sean has always been my outsourced person. Well, he's been my partner in crime for all events. So he's always pulled me into events. I've pulled him into events for a number of years, during our whole time at his whole time at CSN, and even years prior to that. I mean, we've always done stuff. So the outsourcing is the key. If you don't know how to go about something, it's always good to ask. And the collaborative spirit of just having all these different institutions that have a band of knowledge of how to put these type of events together is key. And then I also think being able to meet students where they're at is very important. Because, again, for CSN, for instance, we have a lot of non traditional students. They're not the coming out of high school age. Sometimes they are the I already have a career, I already have a family, and now I'm coming back, and I'm wanting to get my, you know, Associates Degree, and trying to transfer to get a bachelor's degree at UNLV or NSU. And with that, I mean meeting them where they're at being able to provide those resources. They appreciate it, and I get a lot of those students right now, and just having these opportunities, I've already tapped on a lot of shoulders with that.

Sean Tory 27:35
So what's the

Dr. Sammie Scales 27:39
question one more time the challenges while doing this,

Sean Tory 27:42
with this, with this particularly No, I face challenges in other areas, especially with the government climate, because I work with different institutions across the city, they've gone through certain pushback, so then it makes me have to pivot. But I've always been someone who's like, I'm focused on the audience, which means my students, which means my community. So anything else, as far as distractions, just noise, and I have to find my way through

Dr. Sammie Scales 28:06
it, fantastic, excellent, excellent. So let's start to wrap this up, because our time has gone so fast. I'm going to ask you a quick question, and I just want you know, just an easy answer from you, if money was not an issue, what would you like to see for a barber shop talk? If money wasn't an issue at all,

Kendall Sanders 28:21
probably a guest speaker, a guest speaker.

Imani Patterson 28:25
For me, definitely taking them out in the community and learning how to golf, learning how to do certain things socially.

Sarah Taylor 28:33
Okay, fantastic. I'd probably say rent out a barber shop like a real

Kendall Sanders 28:37
one. Yeah, okay,

Sarah Taylor 28:40
in that culture, and then, yeah, that's the real experience.

Dr. Sammie Scales 28:46
They said it Okay, well, mine would be to actually have a building built on campus so that you can actually have it on campus. I know in San Diego, at City College, they have a actual barber shop talk. They do that, and they actually have a barber shop there on campus for that. Yeah, that's cool. So, yeah, I would like to see that on each one of your campuses. So and then Kendall, just so you know, anytime you need guest speakers, you can always reach out to us. Apples are always willing to serve, right? So thank you all so very much for attending here today. Sean Tory, Imani Patterson, Sarah Taylor and Kendall Sanders, thank you so very much anytime you want to come back and speak here on the podcast about anything, whenever you have something going on on your campus, if you want to come here and talk about it, reach out to me. You have my number. I'm always willing to help. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. And that's a wrap.

Dr. Renee Watson 29:38
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai