Du Bois Society offers community to minority grad students
When Jeraul Mackey joined the W.E.B. Du Bois Graduate Society in his second year of grad school, he was searching for a community that could help him thrive as a doctoral student of color in the Ivy League. Mackey, who hails from New Orleans, found much more. “For many Black people who call Boston and Cambridge home or lived through Hurricane Katrina, community is essential for survival,” said Mackey, who is now a steering committee member of the society. “We are often all we got. What I found was folks who have loved me, supported me, and rooted for me for no other reason than they want to see me succeed.” Founded in 1983, the Du Bois Society is a student group of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), and aims to foster community among underrepresented graduate students, all of whom are encouraged to join. It’s one of several affinity groups...