DeKALB – In the second floor ballroom of Altgeld Hall, a sea of people united by love and brotherhood came together on Saturday to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the Black Male Initiative. So many high fives, hugs, selfies and expressions of love and admiration from hundreds of alumni came all at once to honor an organization that played a massive role in their lives. 

The 20th anniversary banquet lasted from 6 to 11 p.m. with a one-hour networking event preceding it, and was the finale to BMI week. But it was much more than a conclusion; it was a celebration for the role BMI played in the lives of these men who now work in a variety of career fields. 

One of the alumni who came was Matthew Gibson, who graduated in 2018 and is now a police officer at NIU.

“This is a good organization,” Gibson said. “It did a lot for me in networking and got me to engage with students every chance I got. It also taught me accountability, something I was lacking. We have to change the narrative about what people say about us.” 

“BMI took me out of my comfort zone because I was normally a shy person,” Yoni Tadese, who graduated in 2017 said. “In it, I began to figure out myself and be myself, especially amongst other Black men.” 

For some, BMI isn’t just a family. In the case of Glenn Marshall, a 2010 graduate who currently works at Channel 9 WGN news as a reporter, it was salvation.

“Without BMI, I would not be here,” Marshall said. “BMI saved me and taught me the true meaning of brotherhood and how to focus on school.”

Current members of BMI were in awe of the number of alumni who showed up to the event.

“It’s been a minute since we’ve seen a bunch of us because of COVID-19,” Secretary of BMI Paris O’Bryant said. “Being around these guys showed us that we want to be where they are at.” 

In the slow-burning aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, this unity displayed the bonds of brotherhood amongst alumni of various years and current students. 

“Coming off of COVID and having an event like this is something,” Director of Orientation for BMI Jalen Charlson said. “Seeing all of this is coming out of the program is powerful.”

Hundreds of BMI alumni came to show their support along with several members of the NIU community including President Lisa Freeman, NIU Chief of Police Darren Mitchell and Anne Edwards, the director of The Center for Black Studies. “There’s a conversation about the importance of role models, in helping students succeed and closing the achievement gap,” Freeman said. “At NIU, we haven’t been talking about it, we’ve been doing it for 20 years.” 

Throughout the evening, the conversation about BMI’s longevity and its mission to helping students kept coming back to Donald Bramlett, who founded BMI in 2001. To many in attendance that night, Bramlett is a father figure and the reason why they’re in the place they are now. 

“I would not be here if not for Don Bramlett,” said Delvin Newell, a 2008 graduate who now works as an independent engineering contractor and entrepreneur. “He got me reinstated because I was one of those freshmen who didn’t take it seriously. I was on academic probation but he got me one more chance and made me promise to get my grades up. I didn’t want to let him down.”

One alumnus in attendance was Martez Gordon, one of the original five members of BMI, who joined the banquet via Zoom and saw Bramlett’s hard work in founding the organization. 

“BMI is Don Bramlett,” Gordon said. 

That night, BMI’s Faculty Advisor Christopher Mitchell announced the creation of The Donald Anthony Bramlett award, which will accept money from donors to lower the costs of BMI student tuition. 

When Bramlett got up on stage to thank everyone for coming and to reiterate the message of BMI, he was teary-eyed. 

“Having this turnout has been wonderful,” Bramlett said. “The passion I have is not in my check, it’s in there (the ballroom), to be a part of these students’ lives and see them become good men.”