The Men of Project X
The University of Central Arkansas Project X’s mission is to educate, engage and empower young men coming to college by providing a sense of brotherhood and community within campus. It also prepares them for a future beyond college by presenting leadership opportunities in the greater community.
It began as the Black Male Achievement Challenge Initiative in 2014 when retention numbers in higher education worldwide were dropping for Black men. However, after three years, the program was expanded to include all men and was renamed Project X. Project X men have several programs to engage them and keep them at UCA, while they make a strong impact on campus, out in the community, and beyond.
One of the programs through Project X designed to keep these young men engaged and educated is the Early Arrival Program. This program allows them early move-in on campus. During this time, they are shown around campus and introduced to campus resources like the Student Health Center, the Center for Writing and Communication, Torreyson Library and much more.
This program also educates and prepares them to transition from high school to college. They get the opportunity to familiarize themselves with their schedules by visiting each classroom. There are also scheduled activities so that they get to know each other and develop a sense of brotherhood and community.
Exercise and sport science graduate James Buckley ’24 served as president of Project X for 2023-24. He said, “The Early Arrival Program exposed us to campus resources like the Tutoring Center and Student Health Center. The program let us know we had a community at UCA that would support and elevate you. It was huge for me.”
Chris Perez Velazquez, a former Project X ambassador and criminology graduate, agreed. “My favorite memory about the Early Arrival Program was an activity with my cohort where we had to work together jumping rope. It taught us cooperation, and we got to know each other, which helped us become friends.”
They also take on leadership roles by plugging in and participating on campus almost from the beginning. This path also leads them to move out into the community to serve. Being vested keeps the men here.
“I was kind of nervous coming here on my own. I didn’t know anyone. Through Project X, I was introduced to the Minority Mentorship Program and Student Government Association. Then, because of what we learned during the Early Arrival Program, we helped other freshmen students move in on Move-In Day, and we talked to them like we had been here for a year when we’d only been here a week and a half,” said Rogers native, Kevin Arevalo Ayala, an exercise and sport science graduate.
“You end up volunteering for a weekend too. During my freshman year, we got to set up backpacks for middle-school students in the community. We put them together, and then we passed them out to the students and their families. The families were grateful, but the kids seeing someone who looked like them who was going to college gave them a new outlook on it,” Ayala said. He suggested that he would have gone home due to homesickness without the connections made on campus and off in just those first few weeks.
Velazquez said that talking to parents during Move-In Weekend was one thing that helped him establish a sense of campus community. “Just assuring parents that their students had resources and people there to help really put them at ease.” He continued by teaching and mentoring new students through the years. “The program teaches you to help others and also be open to asking for help. There’s community everywhere you go. It taught me to become a better person by helping someone else,” he said.
Buckley credited Project X with giving him connections through a fellowship with Conway Corp. Speakers for the City of Conway. “It acted as a stepping stone to student involvement. It instilled values of dedication, service and hard work. It taught me to take risks and step out of my comfort zone while giving me space to grow,” said Buckley.
Going to college, for many, is taking a chance, but, according to Buckley, it is a chance worth taking for the men of Project X. Buckley said, “Please be willing to take a chance on Project X. Come and see that we are an organization that wants to treat you like family. We want to make a huge difference for you, our campus and our community. We want to pour into others as we have been poured into.”