BI Peer Mentors

BI Peer Mentors for the 2023-24 academic year

BI Peer Mentor Program

The BI Peer Mentor program is dedicated to supporting the success of BI first-year college students by fostering a community of empowered young men of color and creating pathways for their personal and academic growth. The first year at a 50,000+ student university may be daunting and our BI peer mentors seek to alleviate some of the pressures BI students can face as they transition to the UW.

Each year, older BI members take on the incredible role of peer mentors, in an effort to make the college transition as smooth as possible for BI first-year students. The peer mentors serve as academic role models and friends to all BI students, and are committed to providing mentorship, guidance, and resources that enable them to thrive in their college journey and beyond.

Every first-year BI student will be placed into a peer mentor group in the fall seminar. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to one of our Lead Mentors!

Meet Our Peer Mentor Leads

BI Lead Mentors play an important role in guiding and supporting our peer mentor team. They ensure that peer mentors are fostering personal connections with their mentees and the planning and development of community events. They also help with developing and facilitating the peer mentor training course, and serve as teaching assistants for the BI freshman and sophomore seminars.

Daniel Garcia

In my free time, I: Go to concerts, explore new restaurants, hang out with my best friends, play video games
I’m a fan of: Nintendo, R&B, Indie music, coffee, sunbathing
I’m a Lead Peer Mentor because: I love the Brotherhood and everything that it’s working towards! 
Please ask me about: mathematics, mental health, things to do in the Seattle area, off-campus housing

Q. Do you think mentoring impacts the BI first-year experience? If yes, how so?

A. I do believe that mentoring impacts the BI first-year experience. I believe it impacts this experience through providing our incoming freshmen with someone they know they can count on and who can help them navigate what is often a difficult first year. It especially helps that all of us mentors and leads were BI freshmen not too long ago and can answer specific questions and offer relevant advice.

Aarun Hendrickson

Activities: cooking, biking, and watching cartoons
I’m a fan of: kombucha! 
I’m a Lead Peer Mentor because: I want to contribute to the mentorship program and strengthen the BI community for future scholars. 
Please ask me about: undergraduate research

Q. Do you think mentoring impacts the BI first-year experience? If yes, how so?

A. Yes! As mentors, we are able to connect with our mentees at the most important part of their college experience and help guide them down their chosen path to find success. It is our job to help them achieve whatever their goals are while also teaching them to avoid the initial hardships we faced when we began here at the UW.

Ja’Nathen White

In my free time, I: like to binge watch Martin or go outside and start working on my car or doing something new to it
I’m a fan of: free education
I’m a Lead Peer Mentor because:  I love to work inside the program who taught me how to love college and become more social within networking and making new friendships and opportunities. As well, I love to connect people to places they never knew about and see them excel in their own ways. 
Please ask me about: How to become a Lead Peer Mentor for the Brotherhood Initiative

Q. Do you think the mentorship program has helped facilitate community within the BI? If yes, how so?

A.  Absolutely. The BI community gives you the chance to meet and network with other men who look just like you and are the same age within your cohort. You get to meet new people who sooner or later will become friends, roommates or cool with. Being a mentor has brought out the best in me as a leader, BI student, and mentor. I could not thank the program enough.