Barbershop Builds Community for Black Male Students

When Jonathan Clauzel first heard about LaGuardia Community College’s barbershop sessions, he was immediately intrigued.

The music recording technology major quickly discovered that the sessions provided more than just a haircut; they gave him and other young Black men space to talk about issues they care about, from career paths to the social challenges they face.

“The moment I stepped in, I felt like I belonged there,” Clauzel said. “It’s a place where I can meet new people, improve as a person and learn something from others.”

Clauzel is one of many Black male students who have attended LaGuardia’s biweekly barbershop sessions.

Launched in October 2025, the sessions are hosted by LaGuardia’s Black Male Empowerment Cooperative, an extension of The City University of New York’s Black Male Initiative, which is designed to engage and empower students of color.

The program brings over 20 students together every other Thursday for free haircuts, facilitated dialogue and candid conversations about finance, career pathways, mental health and personal growth.

The program is not the first of its kind; Virginia Tech launched a similar program in 2011, and other campuses—including the University of Mississippi, Queens University of Charlotte, Goshen College and Ivy Tech Community College—have also offered barbershop sessions.

Rachel Romain, student life manager at LaGuardia, said the barbershop sessions are so popular on campus that they often run over the one-hour allotted time because students value both the community and the conversations.

“We’ve done everything from talking about stress, finances and even how a Black male student is perceived based on his hair because hair is a very big part of Black culture,” Romain said.

She added that Jorge Perez, a professional barber and staff member at LaGuardia’s Fatherhood Academy, administers the haircuts and conversations with students.

“Right now, we’re trying to get him some help because usually he’s there for several hours,” she said. “But he doesn’t mind staying because he really likes helping the guys out.”

LaGuardia Community College

Why this approach: As colleges nationwide grapple with declining retention and graduation rates among Black male students, Romain said it’s especially important to take culturally relevant approaches to engage LaGuardia students.

“We really wanted to see how we could connect better,” Romain said, adding that the pandemic took a toll on LaGuardia’s student enrollment and completion.

Students like Charlie Hall, a business administration major at LaGuardia, said the barbershop sessions have helped his academic performance as well as his mental wellbeing.

“I just walked in casually and they welcomed me with open arms,” Hall said. “It boosts my self-esteem and … my GPA spiked from a 2.5 to a 3.0 and I credit that to the mentorship of [LaGuardia’s Black Male Empowerment Cooperative].”

Hall, who’s a member of LaGuardia’s basketball team, recalled a conversation he had during the barbershop sessions with Marquee Poole, the athletic director at LaGuardia, who led one of the discussions during the barbershop sessions.

“His advice was that you can always finish school, you can always be enlightened, you can always be educated and there’s so much help that you can have, but a closed mouth never gets fed,” Hall said. “Having that guidance and leadership around me has been really crucial.”

Why this matters: As more colleges nationwide pilot barbershop programs on their campuses, Romain said it’s important to start small—find a space and build from there.

“The first session that we ran was in our office, and then we took the other sessions to one of the larger classrooms because we were getting so many students,” Romain said. “But we’re thinking about bringing it back to that original space, just to kind of create that sense of community.”

The next step is reaching out to faculty or staff who are barbers and willing to volunteer their time, she said, and then building out the kinds of conversations students want to have.

“We know the things [students who attend the barbershop sessions] are concerned about—getting a job, making money and, you know, looking good,” Romain said. “So we use those topics to start a conversation and then let it grow from there.”

Clauzel agreed, adding that the barbershop sessions have given him a sense of belonging on campus.

“This is somewhere I would like to be more often,” Clauzel said. “Because this is something that I need for myself and gives me that extra push and confidence that I’m sometimes missing.”

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