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Two days and four workshops were all it took to redefine what community improvement looks like for Syracuse University freshman Uzzekiah Harvey.

On Oct. 17, Harvey and seven other SU freshmen drove two and a half hours from Syracuse to Indian Lake, New York, for an educational retreat through the New York state’s Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program. During the workshops, speakers relayed how they navigated life and responsibility on their individual paths to success.

“It caused a spark,” Harvey said. “I’ve done stuff for the community, for my people back at home. But now we’re in a new environment, and as freshmen, we’re trying to figure out what we can give to the community and how we can really embrace Syracuse.”

The following Monday, the eight freshmen donned suits and dress shirts and filmed a video featuring Harvey. Harvey shared what he learned that weekend: how one’s personal presentation can affect others’ perception. They dubbed Mondays as “Motivational Monday.”

Now, each week, they choose a theme that revolves around academic development and create a video with one member in center stage to speak on it. Although their content is aimed toward young Black men, most of their insights are universally applicable, attracting a broad audience.

In just two months, their Instagram account, @syracusemotivates, has grown to nearly 4,000 followers and garnered over 770,000 views.

They also partnered with the SU’s chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest historically Black collegiate fraternity. Jordan Pierre, one of the speakers at the October retreat, was the president of Alpha Phi Alpha when he attended SU from 2019 to 2023. Pierre is the one who first suggested the students make motivational videos and supported their endeavour, even collaborating on a post with the account.

To make sure they are posting consistently, SU alum Max Jimenez functions as the group’s mentor. They have posted every week since they began, but getting 15 college students together to record an inspirational video each week can be difficult, Jimenez said. Beyond having to dress up and brave central New York weather, sometimes it’s difficult to find something motivational to say amid an intense schedule.

Jimenez said he keeps the group organized. He created the Instagram account after the retreat, edits the videos and has also appeared as part of the ensemble.

He connected with them through his work at HEOP, a state-sponsored program that offers financial aid and rigorous academic support to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and underperforming high schools. The program brought the Syracuse Motivates freshmen to SU. All eight of the founding members attended HEOP’s six-week SU “SummerStart” program, which aims to help HEOP students get ahead before the semester begins.

In their fourth video, the group had to think on their feet. It was freshman Brandon Martinez’s week to be featured. Martinez thought he knew what he wanted to say; he had even mentally ran through it at work prior to the shoot. But then it “disappeared,” he said.

With the camera rolling, Martinez grabbed his phone and tried to memorize something on the fly, but before he could speak again, the camera fell over.

That week’s theme? Accountability.

While Martinez describes the clip as “unprofessional,” it resonated with their audience. The clip was viewed over 16,000 times and was their second most viewed video at the time. A commenter said they loved that the video “felt real.”

In November, the quarter-zip trend took over social media. Quarter zips and matcha swiftly overtook loungewear and Nike Tech tracksuits for the mainstream as young men looked to dress more presentable.

Syracuse Motivates knew they wanted to try their version of the trend, Harvey said. They already had the quarter zips, so Harvey bought himself a matcha latte before the shoot, and freshman Kyheem Graham found a Nike Tech in his dresser.

The video went viral.

Within 48 hours, their page went from 200 to 2,000 followers, and the video itself got over 670,000 views and over 53,000 likes.

The group received messages from teachers and parents, informing the group that they showed their kids, encouraging the students to keep making videos.

Syracuse Motivates takes on the quarter-zip trend as part of its “Motivational Monday” series. The video has become the account’s most popular post with over 670,000 views. Eli Schwartz | Staff Photographer

“It felt unrealistic at some points,” Graham said. “All of us came from low-income backgrounds, and it’s like, ‘Dang, I’m really a kid from New York City leaving an impact on people.’”

But for Jimenez, the views are secondary. Syracuse Motivates is about getting young students together to collaborate with each other, he said. When their account was disabled by Instagram on Dec. 1 for allegedly “violating community guidelines” at the time, Jimenez made a new account, and still got everybody out to film. Their handle was reinstated on Sunday.

“That engagement can turn into a sense of belonging,” Jimenez said. “On the surface it seems like we’re recording videos just to get views, but it’s so much deeper, at least for me. I need to make sure they are academically successful.”

The students, too, know that they’re creating their own culture, Jimenez said. They’re not commenting on the general consensus of what is Black culture or redefining it; they’re crafting what a Black community at Syracuse looks like for them so they can navigate the system of postsecondary education without ever feeling isolated.

“On social media, the Black community isn’t really shown as a community, they just show violence,” Harvey said. “We have communities, we have families, we have brothers and sisters. Emphasizing that fact, will bring change. That’s why using our voice, giving motivation, giving clarity and being as transparent as possible — about where we came from and what we’re doing — is so important.”

Published on December 8, 2025 at 11:59 pm
Contact Peter: peterhradosh@gmail.com