For Malik Brown, President and CEO of Graduate! Philadelphia, going to college was an established aspiration and goal from the very beginning.

"I'm a first-generation college student. I was raised in a single parent home by   my mother; my father and grandmother also helped to raise me — my grandmother was someone who fled racial violence in Virginia. She made it to Philadelphia, had my mother and aunts and uncles at a very young age and only completed the seventh grade; she wanted a better life for her children," said Brown, who will be the keynote speaker as the second cohort of Temple University Bachelor of General Studies graduates crosses the finish line during the University College Graduation Ceremony on Friday, May 12. "I just remember hearing conversations that my mother and my grandmother and my father would have around living paycheck to paycheck and that they wanted more economic opportunity for their children. For me, it was always embedded in my head that education was a way out; it was a way to expand your economic opportunity, a way to expand your horizons."

For his mother, Brown said, "you were going to college — there weren't any other options in my house."

"It was always 'you better bring home good grades because one day you're going to college.' She was able to do that for me and my older brother and younger sister," said Brown, who joined The Graduate! Network in 2018, became the Executive Director for Graduate! Philadelphia in 2019 and then President and CEO in 2020, about the time  Graduate! Philadelphia established itself as its own non-profit organization designed to provide adult learners access to the resources and support systems needed to start and complete a college degree. "I have seen the difference that a college degree can make in terms of your social capital, in terms of access to resources, in terms of your ability to earn a higher income, in terms of your level of civic and political engagement. I've always been a huge proponent of education as a life-changing solution."

At Temple, providing opportunities for adults to finish what they started by returning to the classroom is also an essential goal. In fall 2021, University College began offering the new Bachelor of General Studies (BGS), a program designed specifically for adult learners and students re-enrolling at Temple. BGS students have access to courses and resources available at any of Temple's campuses, including Main Campus, Ambler Campus, Temple University Harrisburg and Temple University Center City.

According to Tara Stasik, Director of Academic and Student Services for University College, the BGS program embraces Temple's roots going all the way back to University founder Russell Conwell.

"Temple was started by Russell Conwell as a night school of adult learners and taking a lead role in the region in providing adult-friendly educational opportunities," she said. "Maybe that propels our students to great success in the field they are currently in, or it opens up entirely new career opportunities. Because this degree program is so flexible, the opportunities truly could be limitless, especially when you're customizing the program to your interests."

Because of the focus of the Bachelor of General Studies program, when choosing a keynote speaker for the 2023 graduation ceremony, Stasik said, "Malik (Brown) immediately came to mind."

"University College and Graduate! Philadelphia share a common goal of helping non-traditional students with 'some credits, but no degree' cross the graduation finish line," she said. "Malik not only shares a passion for helping students achieve their goals, I know his personal stories will resonate with our graduates and continue to inspire them."

Returning to Learning

According to Brown, the BGS program aligns perfectly with the goals of Graduate! Philadelphia.

"Temple has always been a really strong partner for Graduate! Philadelphia. This specific program really taps into that adult learner who may not be sure what track they want to go into — do I want to go into marketing, or finance or IT or human resources," said Brown, who has an extensive background in business, nonprofit, community-based organizations, and higher education. "This is, I think, a truly broad general studies program that allows some flexibility while still having those foundational elements, while still having a practicum that allows someone to complete this learning opportunity and then go on and apply it in the real world. I think this program is a model for meeting the needs of adult learners."

And the need in the Philadelphia is substantial, Brown said.

"In 2005 the United Way of Greater Philadelphia, the Economy League of Pennsylvania and the Knight Foundation got together and did a data study that found that there were over 100,000 native Philadelphians who had some post-secondary attainment but no college degree," he said. "Based on that finding, Graduate! Philadelphia was born, and the term 'comebacker' was coined to represent those adults that for whatever reason discontinued their studies and never completed a two or four-year degree."

For decades "in our country and in our society, there has been a focus on 'traditional' learners," students who go on from high school directly into a two or four-year program, Brown said.

"But there is a huge market and huge need among adults between the age of 18 and 60 (and beyond). These are individuals who get up every day. They work hard, they roll their sleeves up. They raise a family. They may have gone to the Community College of Philadelphia or Peirce College or Temple and taken a few classes and then life got in the way," he said. "I think that there are far too many individuals like that who can make a stronger contribution to their communities, to their jobs, to their places of worship, but they lack the kind of social mobility, economic mobility and career mobility because they don't have that credential. I think the statistic is that only about 28 percent of Philadelphians have a college degree — if you compare that to cities like Boston, Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle and Atlanta, these cities are at 40, 50, 60 percent college attainment. I want to do something to help change that so that more families in the great city that we all love can live their best life."

Graduate! Philadelphia, according to Brown, provides career-integrated learning advising services for adult learners in addition to consulting services for college and university partners and the business community.

"An adult learner may come in and say they are interested in going back to school or interested in going to school for the first time. We've adopted a phrase that our friends with the City of Philadelphia used — Returning to Learning," he said. "They will articulate to us what their learning needs and career aspirations are and we help determine how to align the learning with the career component. We help adult learners and their families navigate what is sometimes a complex and confusing higher education landscape."

Partnering to Support Dreams, Aspirations and Success

Partnerships with higher education institutions like Temple are key to providing the wealth of resources adult learners need to achieve their educational and career goals, Brown said.

"We can't do this work alone; we are not a college or university. We are community-based organization that serves at the intersection of communities, post-secondary education and workforce development. Our role is to make sure that we are out recruiting, we're raising awareness of the different college and university programs," he said. "We are providing those wraparound services that are needed to get someone enrolled and from enrollment to persistence to completion. A collective impact model is critical if we want to move the needle forward. It really is this idea of coming together, everyone bringing their strengths and capabilities, where we find synergy and move Philadelphia forward together." 

When we walk around our neighborhoods, Brown said, "what we don't often see is almost two thirds of our fellow neighbors are either making slightly above a minimum wage and in many cases below a minimum wage."

"You would never know that because these individuals every day roll their sleeves up, go to work, take care of their family, go to bed, get up, and do it all over again. I think the idea of finishing what you started is a campaign that we can all get behind as a city because if we lift more people out of poverty, if we get folks that are just making it to get a higher wage or a higher credential, then that allows people to do more for themselves, their families and their communities. Finishing what you started is an opportunity for folks to do more things that they want to do in life; they just need the resources and the support systems to be able to get there."

Brown said that he is "humbled, honored and excited to be the keynote speaker for the University College Graduation Ceremony on May 12.

"One of the things that I really try to do is personalize my remarks, tell a story, and find ways in my own journey to relate to the audience. I want to talk about the idea of 'we' — I imagine we have gone through some similar situations and problems and we were able to find ways to get to a solution, finding ways to go to work and go to school at the same time, for example," he said. "Hopefully by sharing a little bit of my story, I can inspire and motivate someone in that audience. Hopefully, someone in that audience says to themselves, 'well, if Malik can do it — a first-generation college student who became the president of a non-profit — then I can do it too."

The key advice he would give to adult learners, Brown said, is an understanding that they are not alone and that their dreams are achievable.

"Sometimes the perception is 'I have to do this on my own, I'm by myself, I'm raising a family, I don't have a support system.' I want adult learners to know that they can find a support system with Graduate! Philadelphia; with the institution you may be interested in attending; at your place of worship," he said. "You may not realize that there is support right in front of you. Self-advocacy is, of course, important. Self-motivation is important. That's the part that adult learners have to do themselves, but the other piece is having that support system, having a navigator, having those wraparound services and understanding that we're in this together. We're in this to help you finish what you started."

For more information about the Bachelor of General Studies program and how to apply for admission or reenroll, contact the University College Academic and Student Services team at 215-204-6565 or BGSadmissions@temple.edu.

Learn more about Graduate! Philadelphia by visiting https://graduatephiladelphia.org.