'ET, The Hip-Hop Preacher' delivers urgent call
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 12:17 pm
MURFREESBORO -- "Tonight, it's my job to get you to operate with the spirit of urgency that your ancestors operated (with)." Invoking African-American legends such as Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman and assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers, Thomas indicated that students who ignore their studies also are ignoring the sacrifices their ancestors made. "They were scratchin' and fightin' for an opportunity that they did not have, and you have it, and you ain't scratchin' and fightin'," Thomas said. While acknowledging students who complain of homesickness, Thomas encouraged them to associate with "people who don't look like you," to take study-abroad classes and to expand their circle of acquaintances, even if they're initially unsuccessful. "Success is going from one failure to the next without losing enthusiasm," Thomas said, quoting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. While asserting that he "ain't smart," Thomas touted his ability to become the first college graduate in his family and a financially successful motivational speaker by learning the "language, codes and rules" of America's majority educational and business superstructures. Thomas, a high-school dropout from Detroit, recalled being hungry, living in abandoned buildings and contemplating suicide before a minister encouraged him to go back to school and fulfill "the anointing" that was on him. After earning his bachelor's degree from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, and his master's and doctoral degrees from Michigan State University, Thomas created the Advantage program at MSU. The program focuses on helping "high-risk college students by improving their study habits and increasing their retention rates," according to his website, www.etinspires.com. Thomas's consulting firm has worked with the employees of clients that include General Electric, Procter & Gamble, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. Thomas's appearance was co-sponsored by the MTSU Distinguished Lecture Committee, Institutional Equity and Compliance, Office of Student Success, June Anderson Center for Women and Non-Traditional Students, Intercultural and Diversity Affairs, Generation of Purpose Gospel Choir and the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
|