Masculinity in American Colleges

Caleb Douglas is the name and I'm a young African-American stud who's having the time of his life. Seriously. Why is that? Well, let' s see. I'm a full-scholarship student at Ripley College in Boston, Massachusetts. Ripley College was founded in the year 1950 by philanthropist and popular author Patricia Ripley and her husband, billionaire Thomas Highland Smith. They passed away ten years later but the Ripley & Smith Foundation has continued to look after the fledging college, providing valuable financial support in its time of need. Since then, the school has become one of the best four-year small private colleges in New England.

Today, Ripley College has fourteen thousand students, and a wonderfully diverse student body. Demographically speaking, the school is fifty percent male and fifty percent female. Forty percent of the students are Caucasian, thirty percent are African-American, ten percent are Asian and twenty percent are of Hispanic origin. The school president, former Massachusetts Senator James O'Leary is committed to diversifying the campus. He's been really good at it so far. He hired retired National Football League superstar Harold Jenkins III as the Head Football Coach of the school's fledgling Football program. The school knows how it treats its students well. There are six fraternities and six sororities on campus, along with various social and special interest clubs such as the Men in Engineering Club, the Women in Technology Club, the African-American Literature Club, the Women's Literature Society, the Men in Nursing Club and the Men and Women's Criminal Justice Club.

Recently, the Ripley College Department of Athletics has beefed itself up. Ripley College student-athletes now compete in Men's Intercollegiate Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Ice Hockey, Rowing, Rugby, Soccer, Sailing, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo and Wrestling along with Women's Intercollegiate Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Field Hockey, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Ice Hockey, Rowing, Rugby, Soccer, Softball, Sailing, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo and Wrestling. For club sports we have Men's Archery, Boxing, Cycling, Sumo Wrestling and Karate along with Women's Badminton, Archery, Cycling and Karate. All of our sports teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division Two. We're known as the Silver Stars and the Lady Stars.

This is the school that I attend. Isn't it awesome? I got to tell you, it's a lot better than many other colleges and universities across America. I'm a member of both the Varsity Football team and the Men's Wrestling Team. We're doing pretty good these days. In both sports. I think we might make it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division Two Football Championships. A lot of people don't take Division Two College Sportsmen and Sportswomen as seriously as they do our Division One counterparts. I don't know why. We play just as hard. Hell, we play harder. Division One College and University student-athletes walk around with a sense of entitlement. We don't. Nobody kisses our butts. We play because we love sports. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm living in the dormitories, located near downtown Boston. Ripley College spared no expense when it decided to add Football to its Department of Athletics. Thankfully, the Football program generated quite a lot of revenue in its first year. It cost the school two million dollars to begin a Football program. The program generated upwards of ten million bucks during its first year. I'm glad we have an NFL guy as our Head Coach. I've worked with him. I'm on the Special Teams. I'm basically the Quarterback's personal bodyguard. Who is our quarterback? Jonathan Wilson, a big and tall, good-looking, blond-haired, green-eyed stud. Although he looks quite Teutonic, he's actually a third-generation Irish immigrant. I like the guy. He's cool, smart and listens to his teammates. I've been playing Football since high school and I really don't like quarterbacks who are full of themselves. They get on my last nerve. I've decked more than one. Jonathan Wilson is okay by me, though.

Yeah, I was living the kind of life many men can only dream of. Attending a good school, for free. Playing college football. Living in a world-class city. Surrounded by smart men and beautiful women. Or smart women and handsome men. Whatever your flavor. Hey, most people only get half the package. Good looks or intelligence. Only a select few can have both. You know it's the truth, so live with it. Political correctness causes people to shun the truth these days. I'm not the kind of man who just goes with the flow. I got my own beliefs and I take a stand. Even if it's unpopular. To hell with society. That's me, folks.

Today is Friday and my friends and I are hanging out in the city of Boston. We went to the Prudential Mall. It was awesome. We went into the Food Court. One hundred young men wearing Football jackets. How about that? It was awesome. American society doesn't seem to appreciate men anymore. Anytime you see something about men, it's usually negative. Well, I walked around with my fellow football players from the Ripley College team proudly. We had a blast. We ordered Chinese food and had cokes and sodas. Folks around the Mall stopped to stare as we walked around, doing our thing. It's like that old music video, it's Raining Men! I sat down with my buddies, ate some food and had some fun.

Yes, we were all young college men, all together and we were having a grand old time. Just being ourselves. I saw everyone looking at us. Men and women. Blacks and whites. Gays and straights. Some of them were admiring us. Others were covertly hating on us. I just smiled and laughed at my teammates jokes. We did our thing. And when we were done, we got up and walked out. All men. All of us together. We're America's young college men. And we will be ourselves. We will do our thing. Black and white, straight and gay, we're in this together. Whether it's as a football team, a group of firemen, or just some buddies hanging out on a Friday night. All men are brothers.