Growing up in the Englewood District of Chicago was rough, said Thaddaeus Carr.

Shootings, gangs and drug dealers took over the streets. To stay focused, Carr said he surrounded himself with people who could have a positive impact on his life.

“It was such a defensive area that people really didn’t trust anyone,” Carr said. “It was just rough growing up from that and just learning how to make it out of those situations.”

Carr said he really didn’t have much guidance because he was the first person in his family to go to college. But after joining the Black Male Initiative (BMI) at NIU, which he is now the president of, Carr is around other people who have the exact same goal he does – to graduate.

BMI recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. What started off as an organization with only five members has now grown to over 70 and has a 100 percent graduation rate. Community service and social interaction are important to this organization, but its main goal has always been to increase the retention rate of black male students at NIU through graduation, Carr said..

The organization gives members the support and knowledge needed to graduate through education and social events, seminars, workshops and study tables, said Stephen Samuels, BMI executive director of mentoring.

Steven Williams, BMI director of marketing, said “image busting” is another important objective that members achieve by dressing up for Monday meetings.

“When we wear dress clothes, people may think it’s for a court date or for something negative,” Williams said. “Well, we want to wear dress clothes to show we are as much about business as we are education.”

BMI also works to increase the number of students who attend college by mentoring students at Chicago public schools. Carr said there are plenty of students who don’t see college education for them, but that is something BMI is trying to change.

“Some guys look at us and say well you were special, you were special,” Carr said. “But we got to encourage them to look past what they see on the outside because we all have a story. We’ve all be through a lot. We’ve all been through things that people wouldn’t imagine and we’re still here. We got to encourage them, tell them our story about how we did it, and then help them learn how to have the determination to make their own story.”

Don Bramlett, BMI faculty advisor and graduation specialist, said some students who come from Chicago public schools and then make the transition to college may not be prepared academically.

“When they go on to pursue higher education it becomes a motivational thing,” Bramlett said. “You have to be willing to make the effort to work twice as hard to get going in the direction you need to go in order to persist toward graduation.”

Joshua Singleton, BMI service coordinator, said BMI tries to increase the retention rate of black male students by holding members accountable and by recognizing members that do well academically through the 3.0 Club.

“The reason why this organization was built is because a lot of black males were just on the party scene, and what happened was they weren’t worried about their academics and they failed and stopped attending college,” Singleton said. “We’re here to stay here and graduate so that we can receive that degree. It’s basically just a helping stone for black males.”

Samuels said BMI members share a unique bond.

“It’s a bond that you can find hardly anywhere else in DeKalb County, where you have a group of positive African American males that are dedicated to progress and success,” Samuels said.

At the end of a recent BMI meeting, over 70 members wearing dress shirts, sweater vests and suit jackets huddled around Carr who yelled, “BMI what is our goal?”

“To graduate,” members cheered back.