Horace Mann - Spring 2017 - 14

HM Alumni Address "The Issues" in Their Work and Lives

Describing himself as "the only one of my friends
growing up to escape" the area's pitfalls Stephens attributes his near miss to his parents, and to "someone who
gave me an opportunity by mentoring me." He credits
his mother Jane Stephens with inspiring the work
ethic he, himself, follows. "She was a single mother who
worked full time and raised us full time" and a "very
strong ... super mom." His father, Rudolph Stephens,
taught his children "to lead and not to follow." But Hasan
Stephens can credit himself for displaying academic strengths
as a child that drew the attention of teachers who nominated
him for Prep for Prep, a national program that prepares disadvantaged minority students to enter independent and boarding
schools. Stephens' success in the rigorous Prep program took
him to The Lenox School (now Birch Wathen Lenox), and then,
in ninth grade, to Horace Mann School. Along the way Stephens
had a teacher he counts among his first mentors, for introducing him to a world outside of the Edenwald milieu, and to the
idea that he could aspire to "other ways to live."
Horace Mann School continued to provide Stephens "exposure to a new environment outside of the projects. It allowed
me to see the best of both worlds, poor and affluent, to help
me understand where I could go and what I could do, and what
I wanted in life. It afforded me a phenomenal education that
allowed me to persevere and achieve what I have been able to.
HM also exposed me to other people of color who mentored
me and showed me what it was to give back." One of those
people of color was alumnus Mark Hines '90, a music producer
Stephens counts as a significant influence on his life. Hines
served as HM Student Body President and as president of The
Union, a position Stephens would later fill. The two alums did not
overlap as students at HM, but met through friends.
The "world outside of the projects" opened even wider for
Stephens during a pre-application college tour that took him to
Hobart and William Smith Colleges alongside beautiful Seneca
Lake, in upstate New York. "I didn't know places like that existed,"
Stephens recalls. The setting helped him decide to enroll at HWS,
where he focused on film, music and African American Studies.

Hasan Stephens '95:
Working to Create a "Good Life"
for "At Risk" Youth

hat most people consider to be
"the good life" depends upon how
they apply personal preference to their
modus operandi. To Hasan Stephens
'95, the good life is much more.
For one, it's the name of the
organization he launched in Syracuse,
N.Y. in 2009 to assist the city's at-risk youth, help steer them
clear of juvenile detention, and guide them toward stable and
productive lives. Well, not stable in a staid sort of way, because
Stephens brings music-Hip-Hop music-into much of this
work. The music part is understandable: When Stephens is not
serving as executive director of The Good Life Youth Foundation
he inhabits his persona as "DJ Maestro"-the popular official DJ
at the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University.
For another, Stephens' idea of "the good life" embodies his
ultimate vision of "a more equitable world for the disenfranchised" and an end to "the cycle of poverty and incarceration
for youth."
To do his part in achieving this vision Stephens taps into
two important models: "Mentoring and entrepreneurship," he
says, crediting both with paving his own path toward pursuing
the personal dream that his work embodies. Both are also key
elements of The Good Life Foundation's strategy. "Becoming an
entrepreneur at a young age taught me the importance of managing money," says Stephens. Regarding mentoring, he cites a
Big Brothers, Big Sisters study showing that young people with
mentors are: 52 percent less likely to skip school; 46 percent
less likely to begin using illegal drugs; 37 percent less likely to
skip a class; 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, and 33
percent less likely to engage in violence.
"I know I wouldn't be where I am today
without the mentors I had to guide me,"
Stephens says, adding that it was through
mentoring that he came to Horace Mann
School, and to where he has ventured since.
Hasan Stephens grew up in Edenwald
Houses, a housing project in the
Eastchester section of the Bronx, perennially described as among the worst in
New York City. "It's notorious. I saw a lot
of poverty, drugs and violence. I grew up
with three friends who did not make it. One
was shot. One was arrested, and the other
was involved with drugs," Stephens recalls.
Little has changed. In April 2016, the area
was the site of the largest arrest of gang
Hasan Stephens '95 with young people at The Good Life Youth Foundation, which the alum founded in Syracuse, N.Y.
members and drug dealers in NYC history.

Horace Mann Magazine Spring 2017

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