Barbershop Talk Series
BMEN Barbershop Talk series is a monthly event where Black male students at Virginia Tech can share stories and wisdom relevant to their experiences at VT and beyond, so that together students can discover common threads and strategies and develop a more profound vision of manhood. BMEN guides these conversations by inviting guest speakers from the community, allowing students to set the theme for each conversation, but also supporting those themes with relevant stories, lyrics, poems, or folk tales from Black poets, hip-hop artists, and writers. Specifically, this program is intended to support Black male students by:
- Building a community where participants can support each other’s character development.
- Encouraging a new, more robust vision of manhood that incorporates the intersectionality of identities and a diversity of experiences.
- Providing space for healing, coping, encouragement, empowerment, and accountability.
- Using storytelling to share wisdom and build ideas and strategies.
- Illuminating common human experiences, especially those of Black men.
2024–25 Barbershop Talks
- August 29
- October 3
- November 7
- February 16
- March 20
