Fraternity focuses on helping Latinos, African-Americans

Throughout his four years of high school, Genaro Saenz pretty much spent every other Sunday evening developing his understanding of what it means to be a "phenomenal young man."

By all accounts, the soft-spoken and neatly dressed 19-year-old, a sophomore in chemical engineering at the University of Chicago, is well on his way to becoming one.

He gives much of the credit to the Aurora-based Boys II Men fraternity, which he joined the summer before his freshman year at East Aurora High School. Fraternity members taught him things like how to dress properly, how to speak appropriately and how to treat women respectfully, he said.

"You learn that it's all about respecting yourself," he said. "When you enter a room, you represent yourself, your family, your race and where you come from."

Boys II Men meets every first and third Sunday of the month, is free and is open to Latino and African-American boys in eighth through 12th grades, although it has a couple of Caucasian members. Once they enroll in college, members are considered "scholars."

The fraternity numbers about 100 members, mostly in the Chicago area, said founder and director Clayton Muhammad. The only requirement to join is a desire to succeed, Muhammad said.

"Our goal is shattering stereotypes, especially the stereotype that education to Latinos and blacks is not important," he said. "... Stereotypes like we are thugs who can think only of putting new rims on their car or buying new Timberland boots."

Instead, the focus of Boys II Men is to instill in its members the desire to get a college degree that will launch them in a professional career, he said.

"You are supposed to graduate from high school. You get no props from me for that," said Muhammad, who attends every meeting of the fraternity. "When you graduate from college - that's when you get the props."

At a recent Boys II Men meeting, each young man stood up to tell about his biggest accomplishment of 2008. "Being the student representative on the school board and going to Princeton (University) this summer," said 17-year-old Roberto Saenz, a senior at East Aurora High School.

"Being accepted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and having an interview with Harvard (University)," said Gilberto Chaidez, a senior at West Aurora High School and co-president of the fraternity.

"Having a 3.78 GPA (grade-point average)," said Esteban Roman, a junior at East Aurora High.

Older members who are now in college answered questions from their younger "brothers" about what it's like to transition from high school to college and what challenges - and rewards - lay ahead.

"I wake up at 5:30 a.m., I got to be in class from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and I don't get out of work until 11 p.m." said Pedro Gonzalez, a sophomore at the DuPage campus of Westwood College, where he is studying visual communication. "A big thing is who you hang around with. It really makes a difference."

Study habits are crucial, said Joshua Jones, a Boys II Men scholar who is enrolled at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta.

"You have to find a system, and sometimes it's about trial and error, like maybe trying to work with somebody else," he said.

Saenz said that becoming good friends with African-American fraternity brothers opened his eyes to how there are more similarities than differences between people of different races. "What I learned is that you have to be open all the time and don't choose a book by its cover because anybody could be a very smart person or end up becoming your best friend," he said.

His brother Genaro agreed. "It's an organization that is trying to unite African-Americans and Hispanics, and defeat the conflicts that are between them," he said. "It's teaching us to be men for the future."

Catalina Saenz credits Muhammad with being a positive influence on her sons. "He always makes sure that the students have respect for him, but he is also a friend they can go to," said Saenz, a single mother. "They can speak to him about their problems, their needs, and the good things that happen to them."

Boys II Men was started in November 2002 by Muhammad, who was then vice president of the Quad County Urban League. He now works as director of community relations for East Aurora School District 131, but stresses the fraternity is not affiliated with the school district and that fraternity members can come from anywhere.

The idea to form a fraternity came to Muhammad after a community meeting in the fall of 2002, when the chief of the Aurora Police Department pointed out that the city was being "held captive" by about 12 gang leaders, he said. "That's when I thought, 'What if you had 12 young men in the same demographic who have more in common than what they have different?" he said.

So Muhammad decided to find out and brought together an initial group of African-American and Latino high-schoolers from the Aurora area. The organization has since expanded both in size and scope, and now includes annual events like a "Mom Prom" for Mother's Day and the "Phenomenal Men Awards," which recognize young minority males.

That's how current co-president Gilberto Chaidez, 17, found about Boys II Men in December 2007. The organization has two co-presidents, one African-American and one Latino.

"I really liked what Boys II Men stood for," he said. "They have a strong value of working hard and going to college, and that in order to have success, you have to have successful people guide you."

His 14-year-old brother, Raul, also joined the fraternity, and their youngest sibling, 10-year-old, Meliton, will likely follow suit, Gilberto said.

"Boys II Men has really opened my mind toward not only becoming a better person yourself, but when you achieve, also to give back to your community," he said.

To find out more about Boys II Men, e-mail claytonmuhammad@aol.com or call (630) 340-5378.