I often reflect upon my life and the work that I do by revisiting the major events and decisions that have influenced my development as a man raised with three sisters in Philadelphia in the 1950s and 1960s.
My parents did not have much formal education. However, both of them were hardworking, spiritual and loving people. They did the very best they could to guide me and my sisters in a path they believed to be right.
Like many of my peers, my social and political education came from the streets, which taught me how to survive and, even, thrive in the midst of a hostile and violent landscape.
Through high school, I was active in the street gang culture. But that subculture neither defined me nor did it dictate my path forward. One of my high school teachers had reached a different conclusion. She told me in front of my peers that I would not amount to a hill of beans.
After high school, I had a little job. If I had not quit it, my high school teacher’s prophecy may have become a reality.
One day in August of 1960, I stopped by the settlement house [now called recreation center] in search of job opportunities. After discussing my dilemma with the director of the center, she directed me to a young brother who had recently joined her staff.
He didn't know about any jobs, but he had an idea. That Saturday, he was taking a group of males to Cheyney University for a campus visit and invited me.
Although I knew nothing about Cheyney, the visit was what I needed to stay on good terms with my father who often told me that if I had nothing to do I could not do it in his house.
My visit to Cheyney resulted in being admitted and I quickly realized that the school would be a place where my curiosity, appreciation of scholarship and leadership could emerge and bloom.
After breakfast on the first day of the semester, I sat on a bench waiting for class to begin and began reading one of the books for my literature class – John Updike’s “Rabbit Run.”
I got lost in the book and when I looked up, the day was gone and evening had set in. Updike’s book was the first piece of fiction I ever read from beginning to end. The experience was both exhilarating and intriguing. It launched me into a new world.
The faculty helped me develop my scholarship and my peers encouraged and supported me. I was elected class president and during one of our class meetings, I was given the heavy task of announcing the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated. I provided leadership to help the campus cope with the national tragedy.
The Beta Gamma chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity found me worthy of membership, which stands as a decision that helped me observe and participate with achievement-oriented men of African descent who took pride in service to others and sought leadership opportunities.
On our small intimate campus, Greek letter organizations were very active and competitive in matters pertaining to service and scholarship.
The competition was friendly and, as the wolf is the Cheyney mascot, we were a community of wolves and always mindful that the strength of the wolf is in the pack.
After graduation from Cheyney, I began my professional practice as a teacher in the public schools of Philadelphia. I moved often to challenge myself in other locations and situations. Although my friends were amazed at my mobility, I was making a difference in the lives of students.
But despite all that Cheyney meant to me as the oldest HBCU in the world, the efficacy of my alma mater continued to be questioned.
My granddaddy often said: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
When it came time to pick a graduate school, I employed granddaddy’s assessment methodology. I offered some good ole’ Cheyney pudding to prestigious graduate schools of interest to me.
Watch this.
All of my graduate school education was in New England schools. My master’s and doctorate degrees were earned at Rhode Island and Boston University, respectively.
I have done post graduate work at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts. I have served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and UMASS.
I have served as president of Shorter College, a two-year liberal arts college. And I was an assistant publisher of a historic African American owned newspaper.
In my role as a public school educator, I have served as a principal, area superintendent, associate superintendent and general superintendent.
I am proud that my graduate school education and my professional practice were based upon all that I learned in the classrooms and on the campus of Cheyney State College.
My commitment to provide uplift and give back to others was clarified in the rich and wholesome environment provided by the school that saw in me something of value and helped me develop it so that I could make a difference.
Confirming that Cheyney makes very good pudding.
About the Author
