We are proud to announce the launch of the Heman Sweatt Center for Black Males, formerly known as the African American Male Research Initiative (AAMRI).

This faculty-led initiative promotes academic excellence among African American males. In addition to student support, the Sweatt Center’s research component informs public policy experts, practitioners and community members on how best to create and maintain a culture of Black male excellence in K-20 settings.

This research guides a hands-on practical approach to help the Sweatt Center achieve its major goals: to increase the four-year graduation rate for African American males at The University of Texas at Austin and to increase the number of Black males attending four-year colleges and universities across the state of Texas.

Housed in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, The Sweatt Center partners with local and national organizations to provide professional development and special events for undergraduates and opportunities for them to mentor younger African American males.

Programs and services include:

• Black male orientation
• Academic coaching and advising • Free and unlimited tutoring
• Weekly empowerment meetings (Power Hour)
• Undergraduate research
• Internship program
• Student-athlete programming
• Black Student-Athlete Summit
• Study abroad (Beijing and Cape Town)
• Host campus visits (College for a Day)
• Collegiate Black Male Retreat
• AMP’d Mentorship
• Black Male Education Research Collection

About Heman Sweatt

Heman Marion Sweatt was the first African American to be admitted to the University of Texas School of Law in 1950 as the result of the Supreme Court decision in Sweatt v. Painter.

Sweatt displayed courage and tenacity in his effort to be admitted to the Law School, and his efforts helped pave the way for the integration of predominately white universities in the South. The Sweatt v. Painter decision led to the 1954 ruling in Brown v. The Board of Education which desegregated schools across the country and opened the University of Texas at Austin to black undergraduates in 1956. Read more about Heman Sweatt’s life on the Texas State Historical Association’s website.