{"id":159363,"date":"2025-02-03T15:01:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T20:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/?p=159363"},"modified":"2025-02-03T15:01:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T20:01:30","slug":"i-can-do-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/2025\/02\/03\/i-can-do-this\/","title":{"rendered":"“I Can Do This!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Building community and supporting one another: BU\u2019s National Society of Black Engineers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Patrick L. Kennedy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The world still needs diverse engineers. Without a variety of perspectives in the room, engineers limit themselves and run the risk of hatching incomplete solutions or even harmful technologies, from pulse oximeters that don\u2019t work on Black skin<\/a> to facial recognition systems that fail to distinguish Black people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So more Black students are needed in engineering schools, but the challenges to enrollment and retention haven\u2019t disappeared overnight. That\u2019s why it\u2019s crucial for those students to build community and support one another through college and beyond\u2014and that\u2019s the role played by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE<\/a>). Founded in 1975, NSBE\u2019s mission is \u201cto increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe NSBE serves a vital purpose today, particularly given the current political climate and the challenges faced by Black students in higher education,\u201d says Jeremiah Somoine (ENG\u201927), internal vice president of Boston University\u2019s NSBE chapter<\/a>\u2014which last year won NSBE\u2019s Region 1 (Northeast) Chapter of the Year award.<\/p>\n

\"\"
NSBE officers (from left) Raniya Delil (’26), internal VP; Raheeq Ibrahmin (’25); and Jeremiah Somoine (’27)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The impact of those political headwinds is not imaginary. After the U.S. Supreme Court banned race-conscious admissions, the proportion of Black students enrolled in BU dropped<\/a> from 9 percent for the Class of 2027 to 3 percent for the Class of 2028. \u201cAt BU, where the Black student population is diminishing, NSBE plays an essential role in creating a space for connection, empowerment, and representation,\u201d says Somoine.<\/p>\n

Being a minority in higher education can be an isolating experience. And an already rigorous academic curriculum is all the more challenging for students\u2014no matter how much they excelled in high school\u2014who are the first in their families to attend college.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a huge first-generation population,\u201d says Raheeq Ibrahim (CAS\u201925), president of BU NSBE, which has expanded beyond engineering to encompass computer science and other STEM fields. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have STEM mentors in their communities, so if we can provide that for them, that\u2019s pretty important.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all in this together<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every Tuesday evening, an average of 78 members gather for a BU NSBE study hall in the Computing & Data Sciences building. (The chapter boasts 156 members.) There, upperclassmen mentor younger students, going over concepts in programming and engineering design, helping them think through problem sets and spreadsheet analysis.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim remembers well her first Tuesday night study hall as a freshman. \u201cThis was the first time I actually had a community of people who looked like me and were also interested in the same field as me,\u201d she says. Now Ibrahim is one of the seniors paying that mentoring forward. \u201cThere have been numerous times when we had to convince our members not to drop out of college or drop out of their major. That\u2019s a big focus. Making sure they know that we\u2019re all in this together, we all struggle sometimes, and that first bad grade on a test, it\u2019s not the end of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upperclassmen are in turn mentored by NSBE alumni, and club officers reach out to alumni and other engineering professionals to arrange for students to tour companies and for recruiters to visit campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am consistently impressed by the maturity and professionalism of the executive board, flawlessly coordinating and running events as well as securing funds for the chapter,\u201d says STEM Pathways<\/a> Director Hailey Gordon, who is an advisor to BU NSBE. \u201cThe chapter is invested in ensuring that all <\/em>members succeed academically and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The e-board also coordinates travel to regional and national NSBE conferences. Last fall, BU NSBE members even attended two conferences the same week\u201415 members went to the NSBE fall Region 1 conference in Stamford, Connecticut; while another 28 made it to AFROTECH\u2122, a Black-focused tech and investment convention, in Houston.<\/p>\n

On top of that, the chapter organizes volunteering and social events, often jointly with other Boston-area NSBE chapters, as well as a networking night in partnership with BU\u2019s chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.<\/p>\n

Launching careers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI would not have gotten through engineering school if it were not for NSBE,\u201d says Keith Clinkscales (ENG\u201984), who went on to a long private-sector career in quality assurance management and is today an operational excellence guru and the director of strategic planning and performance management for Palm Beach County, Florida. In his spare time, Clinkscales was instrumental in creating NSBE\u2019s Professionals arm. He became the first chapter president of what is now NSBE Boston Professionals and eventually served as national chairperson of NSBE Professionals. He received a NSBE Lifetime Achievement award in 2018.<\/p>\n

In addition to those Tuesday night study sessions, the skills workshops, and the camaraderie, Clinkscales counts NSBE conferences as critical. \u201cA conference can be life-changing,\u201d he says. \u201cSomebody might be thinking, \u2018I\u2019m going to drop out or switch majors,\u2019 but then they go to their first NSBE conference. When you walk through the convention center doors, you\u2019re seeing all these people of color that are studying engineering. It\u2019s a community of people going through the same struggle as you, and you\u2019re like, \u2018I can do this!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

More than that, conferences provide opportunities for students to meet with industry recruiters. Last year, at least 21 students landed internships, or full-time job offers as a direct result of NSBE conferences and networking events. Employers include Netflix, Merck, Pratt & Whitney, Schneider Electric, and Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Keith Clinkscales (’84) speaks to students at the NSBE reception during Alumni Weekend.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s such a big deal for us,\u201d says Ibrahim. \u201cOur members have to make the case for missing class to travel. Is it really that important to go to this conference? Clearly, it is, when a significant number of students come back with job offers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinkscales can attest to that. \u201cMy whole career was launched from NSBE,\u201d he says. As a senior, \u201cI walked away from a NSBE national conference with three offers\u2014no, four,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd almost all of my friends in NSBE got their jobs the same way,\u201d starting out at top firms like Raytheon, Digital, IBM, and Compaq. \u201cSo through NSBE, I got my first job, I gained leadership skills, I made lifelong friendships,\u201d he adds\u2014and he met his wife, Alyson Clinkscales (ENG\u201984).<\/p>\n

In September, Keith and Alyson Clinkscales returned to BU for Alumni Weekend, and at the BU NSBE reception, Keith spoke about his journey. \u201cHis energy was just crazy,\u201d says Ibrahim. \u201cEverybody loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning to his student launching pad as an elder statesman was \u201csurreal,\u201d says Clinkscales. \u201cThat was a tear-jerker for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BU NSBE annual awards gala takes place on April 19. Speakers include Keith Clinkscales, NSBE CEO Janeen Uzzell, and BU President Mellisa Gilliam. Visit <\/em>www.bunsbe.org<\/em><\/strong><\/a> for more info.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BU’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers has been building community for decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2662,"featured_media":159452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[236,982,1000,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159363"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159453,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159363\/revisions\/159453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}