<f Carleton is a club headed by president Jeffrey Bissoy-Mattis (‘16) that aims to unite a diverse variety of Carleton guys in a friendly atmosphere to talk about multicultural and gender issues on campus.
What made you want to start the men of Carleton club? “It’s actually an organization that’s been known for over 50 years, but it was formerly called Men of Color, an organization for black students at Carleton.”
Why did you change the name? “When you look at the black students that come to Carleton, they’re either athletes or they’re part of Posse, and there are very few black students that come here with none of those alliances. We’ve actually been a pretty diverse group, but when people heard the word “color”, they think it’s only for black people, when it’s really open to anyone, predominantly Black, Latino, and Asian students, but even they were sort of terrified by that word color. So last year I had the idea to change it to Men of Carleton.”
What are the main aims of the club? “To create an atmosphere where students from whatever background can come together and share their experiences and meet people they might not have met otherwise. We had our first meeting on Sunday and we were about 20 deep, and it was a really good experience, because we had people from all over, it was really diverse. There’s also bunch of events that we help plan. We help co-host the CSPA Slam Poetry Night on October 31 during Taste of Carleton, there’s a three on three basketball tournament, and we’re also taking part in Vayu’s Foodgressive.”
What do you see as the central concerns of young men of our generation? “Being confused or being unprepared. I joined this organization because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I applied to Carleton, and it was really a rollercoaster of emotion and challenges and meeting the same barriers, but I was able to get through them because a lot of the upperclassmen were able to help me with what I was going through. I feel a lot of men are just unprepared for Carleton tasks and life and general, so this is really a lifetime brotherhood that I’m trying to create.”
To get involved with Men of Carleton, email Jeffrey Bissoy-Mattis ([email protected]).