NSBE - Winter 2010/2011 - 31

government come on board.” Fortunately for the students, the government did get on board, two weeks before the students left St. Lucia for Chicago. “We gave it one more try and arranged a very intense meeting with the top three heads of the ministry,” Chapman says. “If it had not been for Dr. Mack’s negotiating abilities at that time, we would not have the government on board. His leadership and negotiating abilities were put to the test, and he did an amazing job.” “As soon as they got us together (one gentleman) said something that pissed me off, and I said, ‘We’re done here, player,’ ” Mack recalls. “They got us to calm down again, and in the end we worked it out and the government backed the loans.” Adds King: “It was brilliant! I got hot under the collar. I argued a lot. But it was good. We were respectful.” And they got their way.

‘noT a-B-Cs’
Leonard Montoute, St. Lucia’s minister of Social Transformation, Youth and Sport, agreed that the government would support the students financially by aiding them in qualifying for college loans. The students were happy to hear it, but their drama continued. The next 14 days were packed with last-minute loan negotiations with banks and do-or-die arrangements for visas and travel. “I always knew that I would get a scholarship, but I didn’t know when, and I didn’t know how,” says new IIT business administration student Lucius Doxerie, 27, who hails from the rough and tumble community of Marchand, in East Castries, St. Lucia. For Doxerie, the second eldest of the St. Lucian group, IIT “is far from easy.” The six-foot-tall Rastafarian is away from home. He’s in a city where the temperature regularly dips below freezing. And, he’s in a dorm room where access to his beloved cocoa tea is nonexistent. Yet, he won’t complain. Just weeks into
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his new life in the U.S., he is focused on studying. “It’s challenging, because (I’m) learning new concepts. But I’m someone who loves to learn, and sooner or later I’ll rise to the occasion and handle my business,” says Doxerie, who was a social worker in St. Lucia before getting the NSBE scholarship. “Education is the only thing that is going to break the poverty cycle.” The students say they are acclimating well to school life. Some thought the curriculum would be simple, given that many British make light of the U.S. education system. “But it’s not A-B-Cs,” says Doxerie. NSBE organized a coat drive to help students prepare for the winter, but some of the coats went unused, as the St. Lucian students aren’t as top heavy as the Americans who donated the coats. Other students, who didn’t want to be identified, say they would not take handouts but would figure things out as they went along.

a new noRmal
Marya Spont of IIT’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions was responsible for welcoming the students to the school.

She went to O’Hare airport with snacks and signs, picked up each batch of young adults as they arrived and took them to IIT’s campus on Chicago’s South Side. The surrounding community is helping tremendously with making the students feel at home, she says. “It’s been really amazing to witness so many people mobilize in favor of these students,” she says. “We took them on a walk around Millennium Park. I talked to them about (taking) the El (elevated train). They’re from a country with 170,000 (persons) total, and Chicago has three million; so it’s a big jump. A few of the students I haven’t seen since the first week. A lot come by my office. One came by my birthday party last week. They’re a warm and wonderful group of students. We’ve had a lot of fun so far.” On one recent Saturday night, the 28 met with local NSBE members and gathered to plot out life until Thanksgiving. Things were almost back to normal. Where’s the proof of that? “I’m relaxing someone’s hair,” says Mechia Augustin, one of the 28, who also happens to be a hairdresser. “Then I’m going to stay up a bit and study.” The program will continue next year, provided more scholarships are financed, says Mack. “St. Lucia needs it,” he says. ■ Adrienne P. Samuels is senior editor of Ebony magazine.
nsbe magazine • winter

2010/11 • 31

NSBE - Winter 2010/2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE - Winter 2010/2011