Student Success Leadership Council

In March 2011, the University of Maryland geared up for a project to increase the retention and graduation rates of its most vulnerable population: Black men. Six years later, Tony Randall and the Student Success Initiative have built student-led programs that empower the Black student population academically, financially and professionally.

When Tony Randall first became the Senior Manager of the Student Success Initiative (SSI) in 2011, the Black female student graduation rate was at 79.1 percent, and the Black male student graduation rate was comparably at 65 percent. The 2011 campus graduation rate stood at 81.9 percent. As Tony started to pitch the initiative to students, he found that students were passionate about this message, but felt it needed to come from other student voices. Thus, by November 2011, the Student Empowerment Project was born.