Tiger Alliance Trains Future Leaders
About the Program
Tiger Alliance began in 2017 as an integral component of the inaugural Men of Color National Summit at Clemson University. The overall mission of the Summit is to close the opportunity gap for Black and Hispanic males, from cradle to career. To bring this vision to fruition, University staff members under the leadership of Lee Gill, Clemson’s chief inclusion and equity officer, recruited a cohort of over 250 high school men of Color in grades nine through eleven to attend the Summit and form what would become the Tiger Alliance. The program and the Summit are loosely based on the Black Male Summit and the African American Male Initiative at the University of Akron, where Gill formerly served as the associate vice president for inclusion and equity and chief diversity officer. While the Black Male Initiative at the University of Akron focused mostly on enhancing its participants’ career-readiness, Tiger Alliance is designed to expose its members to the college environment and provide them with the information they need to enroll in and graduate from institutions of higher learning.
Since the initial Men of Color National Summit, Tiger Alliance has partnered with nine high schools across the Upstate of South Carolina and assisted more than 550 participants. We proudly maintain a 100 percent high school graduation rate. Our 2021 graduates will be the first cohort to matriculate through all four years of the Tiger Alliance program.
Our Partner Schools
Tiger Alliance partners with nine high schools across four counties:
- Anderson District 5 – TL Hanna High School, Westside High School
- Greenville County – Berea High School, Carolina High School, Legacy Early College High School
- Pickens County – Daniel High School, Easley High School, Pickens High School
- Spartanburg District 7 – Spartanburg High School
Do you attend one of our partner schools and want to learn more about Tiger Alliance? Reach out to one of our school partners to see how you can get involved!
Program Model
Tiger Alliance has seven overarching goals that are achieved through our five program components. The goals are:
- Create a college-going culture among the participants.
- Expose participants to the college environment.
- Assist students during the college selection and application process.
- Help participants take ownership of their success.
- Engage the participants in the Men of Color National Summit.
- Provide positive male role models.
- Develop strong relationships amongst the participants.
Interested in learning more about the Men of Color National Summit?
Tiger Alliance students benefit from trips to various college campuses and college fairs, in-school workshops and information sessions, attending a summer residential program on Clemson’s campus, as well as an ongoing mentoring relationships with our Tiger Alliance Ambassadors.
