NSBE - Winter 2010/2011 - 6

From the

NationalChair

To Increase the Number
By Calvin Phelps
NSBE National Chair

SBE family, here’s a rousing statistic: If the U.S. were to graduate all of its black students now pursuing engineering degrees, we would see roughly 9,000 blacks earning baccalaureates in engineering each year. Considering that only 3,078 black students earned a bachelor’s in the field last year, 9,000 is a worthy goal. But now think about this: Roughly 300,000 black students go to college every year, meaning we capture only 3 percent of those students in the engineering disciplines. If we are truly to grow, truly to fulfill the Mission, then it is evident that we must tap into the vast potential of our population and

“NSBE is poised like no other organization to reach our black youth early and hold onto them.”
encourage many more of those young students to pursue engineering degrees. We are talking thousands of potential engineers, young men and women who could be the next George Washington Carver or William Lloyd Garrison, children who have the capacity to be phenomenal builders and designers for our society. But for us to tap that potential we must begin early, before they meet the obstructionists who say math is too hard for them and that there is no future for them in technology and science. NSBE is poised like no other organization to reach our black youth early and hold onto them, and we have an obligation to utilize that capacity to the fullest to encourage our youth that they can do it, that they can be the people to shape our society and our lives. Nationally, we utilize the Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK) program to reach young black students in inner city areas and show them the opportunities that exist in the STEM fields. It is a phenomenal program that leverages our membership and shows our youth people who look like them who are on
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nsbe magazine • winter

track to be the developers and designers of the future, and we are looking to expand SEEK as never before. But the fact remains that our greatest strength has always lain with our chapters, our members who live and operate at the ground level throughout the year. If we are to succeed in capturing as many potential engineers as possible, it is critical that chapters lead the charge. I am passionate about developing our pipeline, not just because the mathematics say we must if we are to reach our destiny as an organization, but because I myself am a product of that pipeline. I have seen what we can do when we actively engage our young people’s minds and show them what they can accomplish, what is out there in the world and ready for the taking. Eight years ago, I was that young student being introduced to NSBE and to what my black brothers and sisters were doing in these fields. And here I sit today, the national chair of this incredible organization. Our future national chair is somewhere out there in the community, just waiting to be discovered. I want to make sure we find him. ■

2010/11

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NSBE - Winter 2010/2011

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