Alcornites were given a special opportunity to be a part of an enlightening presentation by a guest lecturer. The Office of Student Engagement presented A Night With Roland Martin in the James L. Bolden Campus Union Ballroom earlier last week.
In attendance were Alcorn students, alumni, family, friends and faculty and staff members. The event was live streamed and streamed through Periscope to give those who were unable to physically attend, an opportunity to tune into the lecture.
The event began as senior Agriculture Science major and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated Tevin Hudson took the podium to introduce columnist, journalist and TV-One’s NewsOne Now morning program host Roland Martin.
After the formal introduction of Martin, the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. presented Martin with a certificate of appreciation and posed for a group photograph.
“I was given the opportunity because, Ms. Devina Hogan (Director of Student Engagement), wanted our chapter to represent at this event and she needed someone to introduce him, so I volunteered,” said Hudson. It was an honor and a privilege to introduce a man of his magnitude.”
As Martin took the podium, he was greeted with a warm Alcorn State welcome. He started by talking about his journey to Alcorn from previous HBCU, Grambling State University in Grambling, LA as well other schools that he has visited on this tour. He also spoke about race in America today as it pertains to inequity in pay wages, career positions, academics,
He also spoke about race in America today as it pertains to inequity in pay wages, career positions, academics, housing, and finance and pointed out the history of African-Americans and the difficulties they incurred after slavery and during the years of segregation.
Additionally, Martin gave those in attendance advice on how to become financially stable. He urged students to save money versus spending it on the latest Jordan and Nike tennis shoes and instead invest in stock to allow their money to grow and begin putting in place a solid foundation for the future. He also shared some of his own personal experiences about how he was given opportunities to become the man he is today.
The event ended with a question and answer session between audience members and Roland Martin. After the Q & A concluded, Martin took a group photograph with students from the Department of Mass Communications and proceeded outside of the Union Ballroom where he took individual photos with students as they enjoyed refreshments provided by Sodexo.
“It’s all about being enlightened and able to reach folks in a unique way so that maybe it will open their eyes to think in a way that they had not thought about before,” Martin concluded about the event.
