Many of the faces spotlighted in this magazine credit their trajectory towards success to the time they spent studying at South Dakota Mines. The next generation of Mines grads will be no different. The current student body is already doing some incredible work.
In 2020, in the wake of some racially-charged tragedies, a handful of Mines students, including Kyante Christian, thought it was high time that the students on campus started having some difficult conversations.
Instead of putting up barriers, Kyante and other students founded the Hardrocker Ally Association, and started connecting with the next generation. “If we can have some impact on the youth within this community, maybe we can begin to change people’s minds,” Kyante says.
The Hardrocker Ally Association has been providing sports camps scholarships, athletic gear and other hand-ups to at-risk youth. But, as Kyante points out, “The pride and joy of the Association is its youth outreach.”
Athletes from Mines partner with the Rapid City Police Department and are matched with at-risk students. And this strategy is showing some measurable results.
BayLee Danby, Youth and Family Navigator for the RCPD, says, “The reports of runaway juveniles was stuck at 15. The last report that I ran, we only had eight. The majority of those that came off the list were ones that the Ally Association had been working with for the past six months.”
Chief of Police, Don Hedrick, says, “We’re fortunate to have such upstanding and open-minded young leadership emerging from Mines. Their efforts are to be highly commended.”
501 E St Joseph St
Rapid City, SD 57701
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