In 1984, Dr. William J. Harrison (top), a prominent educator, realized a need for a male mentoring program in the St. Louis, MO area. Saturday Boys Academy (SBA) was established. SBA met weekly with eight African American young males, aged eight to sixteen years old.
Dr. William J. Harrison was an award-winning educator, a nationally recognized historian, a humanitarian, and an active member of the A.M.E. Church community. Dr. Harrison strongly believed that young Black men need, desire, and deserve a chance in life.
Saturday Boys Academy is a supplement to the family, church, and community. Members learn that ultimately, each man is responsible for his development and growth. We provide a set of programs and activities to give specific training, experience, instruction, and examples to achieve our purpose. Fundamentally, Saturday Boys Academy is a community program with no religious affiliation requirements for young men to participate.
To help young African American males become strong, intelligent, responsible young men with a healthy sense of self-esteem and self-worth.
From our humble beginnings of 12 charter members over 40 years ago, we have helped over 1000 young men in the greater Saint Louis area. Each young man knows he is expected to earn a college degree. We have partnered with Washington University and other local universities to provide tutoring to each young man every month, along with other meaningful support. The program has a 100% high graduation rate and 100% of our high school graduates attend college. Since our founding in 1984, seven Saturday Boys men have graduated cum laude (“with honors”) from Morehouse College, Dr. Harrison’s alma mater.