Olive-Harvey College students don purple blazers at graduation to mark achievements

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Before they don their caps and gowns, a group of students at Olive-Harvey College, a City College of Chicago, is getting another significant garment as part of an effort to boost self-esteem and success rates for young men of color.

A purple blazer may not be a fashion choice for all, but for these young men it makes quite a statement. All are students at the Olive-Harvey Community College in the Roseland neighborhood. At a school where young women graduate at a rate of five to one, administrators are now working to improve outcomes for young men.

"We offer some additional student services for those students to help them be successful," said Michael Johns, male mentoring coordinator at Olive-Harvey. "We do one-on-one meetings. We provide them a mentor. We just give them the support that they need from whatever aspect they need."

Michael Johns is the recently-hired male mentoring coordinator. He leads a group called men of distinction, who mark their progress with eye-popping fashions. For example, a purple and white bow-tie shows the student has completed a year of classwork and is maintaining at least a "B" average.

Some students say the mentors make a world of difference.

"I don't really have a father figure in my life right now and he was just there for me," Antonio Oria, who studies computer science at Olive-Harvey, said, "and he motivated me to just keep on going to school and do what I like to do which is computers. "

In a special ceremony, students who complete the program are awarded a purple jacket, which shows they are ready for the next level.

Ishmael Ochir, the class valedictorian, emigrated from Ghana two years ago. He started a club for minority students seeking careers in healthcare and wants to study biomedical engineering.

"After having a mentor here who advised me and told me there is a way to my dreams and I tried to follow it, I think it has worked out pretty well for me," Ochir said.

His father, Ishamel Kwame Ochir, is also a student at Olive-Harvey. He says he's proud to follow in his son's footsteps.

"It's a race and if you can't get the torch to the finish line, you have to give the torch to somebody who can finish it on time and accurate," Ishamel Kwame said. "I think he did the best job to take the lead for all of us."

Ishmael Ochir plans to become a neurosurgeon and expects to continue his studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Chicago, or the University of Chicago. The City Colleges of Chicago will hold a unified graduation ceremony on May 3. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, is slated as the keynote speaker.