Retention rates for black students at predominantly white campuses are consistently and disappointingly low, much more so than for white students. There is some evidence for black males that noncognitive variables are more predictive of academic success than the more traditionally used cognitive variables. In this intervention which was designed to improve retention, a workshop series was conducted focusing on the following noncognitive variables: (1) having strong self-concept; (2) having potential to appraise oneself realistically; (3) ability to understand and deal with racism; (4) preferring long-term goals over short-term goals; (5) having a strong support person; (6) having had leadership experience before going to college; (7) having a well-defined career goal; and (8) having demonstrated some kind of community service. Subjects were black male second-semester freshmen, 15 of whom participated in at least one workshop (treatment group), 20 of whom were interested but did not show (no-show group), and 49 of whom were never contacted (control group.) The results indicated that students who participated in at least one workshop did not differ significantly in retention rate from either those who indicated interest but no-showed or from the control group. Future applications should be preceded by identification of students who have low scores on several non-cognitive variables. (ABL)