Black academics talked about the decreased enrollment of Black men in higher education at an event on Wednesday.

The Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Leadership partnered with the African American Leadership Institute to sponsor the Kings in the Ivory Tower–The State of Black Men in Higher Education, a Black History Month event meant to explore Black male experiences in college and university.

“[For] males in general … enrollments have been declining in community colleges and higher ed,” Vice President of Student Success and Enrollment Management at Chesapeake College Kamari Collins said. “But Black men have … even lower [enrollment].”

According to Collins, Black male enrollment has seen a 14% drop over the last decade.

“[We] really [need] to examine that issue … for the well being of our society,” Collins said. “That’s something that I’m passionate about.”

George Timmons, the president of Holyoke Community College, agreed.

“It’s dire,” Timmons said. “Higher education … I think it’s under attack because people are questioning the value of [it].”

Collins said college should be “very intentional” to attract more Black males to attend higher education.

“It’s not just about access,” Collins said. “It’s about providing those necessary supports throughout their entire academic lifetime so that they can be successful.”

Collins said it’s important to “break down the barriers” in higher education.

“If you step on campus and you don’t feel like you belong … it makes it a lot harder for you to want to be there and be motivated and be successful,” Collins said. “I think we really need to put programs in place [and] we need to create environments on our college campuses where … [Black men] know that they’re welcomed.”

Student Government Association President Zack Buster said he attended the event to “understand his constituents” better.

“These types of educational, Black History Month events, they really allow me to gain … a better understanding of an experience that I don’t have personally,” Buster, a third-year communications student, said. “It makes me feel enlightened.”