New book tells story of Clemson’s Call Me MISTER program

Published: February 28, 2013

CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Call Me MISTER program is quite a success story, and now that story has been written in a new book, “Call Me MISTER: the Re-Emergence of African American Male Teachers in South Carolina.”

The program began in 2000 with the goal of placing more African-American males in elementary school classrooms as teachers. Four South Carolina schools — Clemson, Claflin University, Benedict College and Morris College — participated in the program; Call Me MISTER has now expanded to 16 colleges across the state and has been implemented in eight other states.

The book was written by Call Me MISTER director Roy Jones and oral historian and Clemson alumna Aretta Jenkins. Jones and Jenkins first came together to collaborate on a video documentary about Call Me MISTER for SCETV.

“That video project was the seed that eventually evolved into this text,” said Jones. “Aretta’s involvement was key. As a historian, she gave us a perspective on how you can use the MISTER story as a way to gain a great understanding of culture, education and history in South Carolina.”

The book explores the evolution of the Call Me MISTER program and it puts the program into the context of South Carolina’s history, tying in civil rights, social justice, education and African-American culture.

“This book provided us with an opportunity to bring in historical context and connect it to Clemson’s program,” said Jenkins. “We were able to go in depth and create a narrative of early black education.”

The book explores the history of tight-knit African-American communities that were formed post-slavery and reinforced by segregation, and how, once upon a time, men in those communities were often the ones teaching in the classroom. Over time, however, a “brain drain” started to occur, as the best and brightest young men were tapped to pursue other opportunities outside of their communities. Jones and Jenkins believe the MISTER program is helping reverse that trend.

“There’s a backdrop of an existing old-school culture in which there was a lot of stability and people were held accountable to one another,” said Jenkins. “We began to understand that many of these young men were still connected with that culture and are a product of it. These are young black men, against odds in many cases, trying to do the right thing for the betterment of their communities.”

The book also tells the stories of several individual students and alumni of the program, with their personal narratives placed in between chapters. To date, all of the graduates of the program have fulfilled their commitments to stay in South Carolina and teach in elementary schools after graduation.

Jones said the book could also serve as a resource for educators and colleges in other states interested in starting their own Call Me MISTER program. 

The book is available for purchase on Amazon.com and other book retail websites.

Jones is executive director for the Call Me MISTER program, which is housed in Clemson’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education. He also is associate professor in the department of educational leadership. He received his bachelor’s from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; his master’s from Atlanta University; and his Ed.D. from the University of Georgia. In 2009, Jones received the Pacesetter Award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education.

Jenkins is a Clemson alumna with degrees in history and women’s studies. She founded CornBread Chronicles LLC, a South Carolina company specializing in preserving the legacy of agrarian life in the Upstate. She was one of the first African-Americans to host a radio show on Atlanta’s historic 750 WSB and has been a voice artist for most of her career. She has also served as a public elementary school certified parent educator and was recognized with a WYFF 4 Golden Apple Award.

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