by Grace Dobson

What are Lion Walkers? A Lion Walker is a member of a male mentoring program that enables young men to gain guidance and discover career opportunities. When asked what does being a Lion Walker mean to you, sophomore Brysen Thorpe answered, “It means that I have to hold myself to a higher standard than normal. Being a part of the Lion Walkers means being responsible and also being somebody that people can count on, whether it is your peers or the staff of college. It means that you work to bring people of all ethnicities, colors and sexualities together to make sure they feel comforted and included at GC. It means going above and beyond to see your fellow classmates succeed.”                                                                             

In partnership with the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU), Greensboro College was awarded a grant from the NCICU to bring its iBelong Male Mentoring Program to campus. NCICU’s iBelong Male Mentoring Program provides funding to implement strategies designed to increase the persistence, retention and graduation rates of minority male students on campus through programmatic efforts to mentor, coach and make forums available for its students to explore various career opportunities. iBelong is directed by the students in the program, with support from the Office of Retention, led by Warche Downing, Senior Director of Student Retention and Engagement at Greensboro College.   

In total, there are 12 campus participants across the state of North Carolina in the iBelong Male Mentoring Program: Brevard College, Campbell University, Catawba College, Davidson College, Elon University, Gardner-Webb University, Greensboro College, Guilford College, High Point University, Livingstone College, North Carolina Wesleyan University and Queens University of Charlotte. The project was initially funded by a $27,500 grant from the Council of Independent Colleges, which was matched largely by the VF Foundation and Wells Fargo.  

When the program came to Greensboro College in fall of 2022, the Greensboro iBelong Mentoring Program changed its name to the Lion Walkers because of the desire to keep the program alive after the grant for NCICU iBelong Mentoring program ended. 

Here is a brief snapshot of what the Lion Walkers have done in the past year: 

• October 2022: The official launch of the program. 
• January 2023: Lion Walkers Induction Ceremony where 14 members were inducted into the organization.  
• Students received their own personal Chromebook computer if they did not have one. Five computers were distributed.  
• February 5, 2023: Lion Walkers attended the Greensboro Swarm (NBA’s G League team) basketball game and were able to talk about career opportunities with the Account Executive and Manager of Ticket Sales for the Greensboro Swarm. 
• January 2023: The grant helped to upgrade the West Hall lounge area with the support of staff members. 
• April 2023: Hosted “Navigating your path towards making bold moves in your career and beyond” with a representative from the Greensboro Swarm. 
• April 2023: Ten attended the iBelong Male Mentoring Conference at Livingstone College with 12 other participating campuses.