Congressmen encourage Xavier students to stay the course
13th March 2017 · 0 Comments
By Kevin Foster
Contributor Writer
Two of the leading African-American elected officials in Congress led Xavier University’s Black History Month convocation and urged students to take more active leadership roles. U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., the No. 3 ranking Democrat, gave the keynote address for the convocation on Feb. 21. While U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who was elected as head of the Congress-ional Black Caucus last year joined the elder statesman for a reception following the convocation.
“Students are not our future leaders, they are our current leaders,” Richmond said, urging students to participate more in political dialogues. “As long as I wake up and see little bright kids who want to do something big and want to achieve something, then it’s my role to always help them,” Richmond told Xavier students.
In paying tribute to Clyburn’s leadership, Richmond saluted the senior African-American statesman for his service on a national level. Clyburn echoed Richmond’s words, and reminded the Xavier student body that civic responsibility lies with them.
“Our country has always gone back and forth like a pendulum. We go left, we go right, then back left again,” said Clyburn, in response to the results of the recent presidential election. However, he urged students not to lose heart, and that if they stay involved in the political process, they could see change in the next election cycle.
“And if at first we don’t succeed we try again, I lost the election three times before I was elected but I got to be the No. 3 guy in the U.S. House of Representatives only because I didn’t give up after losing,” Clyburn said.
Ammiel Williams, a political science major, and a Los Angeles, Calif. native, sat front and center, appreciative, he said, of the opportunity for progressive dialogue with the congressmen.
“We need to talk to elementary, middle and high school students. That way we don’t have to start when it’s crunch time,” Williams said. “We have to work with our elder leadership to have more of a united front as opposed to starting something new, which can work, but is a lot more complex,” he said.
Clyburn’s remarks hit home in the heart of student leaders like Sierra Blanchard-Hodge, a political science major and Xavier’s 2016-2017 Student Government Association president.
“To have someone who is so devoted to Black youth in particular, especially at HBCUs, meant the world to me,” Blanchard-Hodge said. “Seeing Congressmen Clyburn’s work over the years has proven there is still leadership in America that is advocating for us and those people do sit in high positions. We haven’t been forgotten about, just yet,” she said.
With such high-profile political figures on campus, members of the New Orleans community at large decided to show up, with even prospective students attending.
“It’s chilling to get first-hand exposure to guys who are actually making moves,” said Timothy Ambrose, a New Orleans native, and prospective Xavier student who currently attends Delgado Community College. “They’re a direct bridge between what we need to do and how we do it,” Ambrose said.
The decision to select Clyburn as the Black History Month keynote speaker was celebrated by Xavier officials who said that now is the time to highlight positive images of Black people, specifically at HBCUs.
“He has supported us, he is committed to education as a foundation of building communities and the successes of people across the South and the nation,” said C. Reynold Verret, Xavier’s president. “He is inspiration to our students and he shows them the direction to go,” Verret said. Putting action to the congressmen’s words, Verret said he plans to work with other HBCUs to understand the implications of the Trump administration’s actions.
“We have to hear more from the Trump administration as to what their goals are for higher education,” Verret added. “We haven’t heard much from the Secretary of Education, so we’re waiting to hear.”
Verret said he will travel to Washington alongside other HBCU presidents this year to meet with representatives on Capitol Hill and possibly White House officials.
“We want to see what they’re doing to advance higher education and, if they put [the right deal] on the table, we’ll support them,” Verret said. “If not, we’ll tell them what we need and give them our frank opinions,” he said.
This article originally published in the March 13, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
