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Alexis Means, 13abc Action News reporter, served as the
mistress of ceremonies. Current EXCEL students were involved
throughout the program: Isaac Gonzales introduced three
local speakers; Reuben Hagedorn introduced the event dais;
Josiah Brown introduced the featured speaker and Morgan
Baker presented a dance presentation. "We have future
leaders introducing our leaders," shared Means.
Immediately following the formal introductions, three local
speakers were presented to the audience. The speakers were:
Philip Cockrell, PhD, University of Toledo vice president of
student affairs and vice provost; Wade Kapszukiewicz, mayor
of Toledo; and Rodney Eason, Principle Business Enterprises
vice president of human relations and administrative
services.
"This conference demonstrates the university's commitment to
success. We're delighted that Dr. Salaam is here and will
share a word. I congratulate each organizer of this
conference," explained Cockrell.
"Today's word is opportunity. What would you do with
opportunity? We all have the opportunity to learn from folks
who will speak today. Let's learn from this opportunity,"
explained Kapszukiewicz.
"We're proud to be a local sponsor because we're located
right here in Toledo. We want to honor leadership, because a
major part of leadership is friendship. It's important to
honor and respect people," explained Eason.
The featured speaker, Yusef Salaam, PhD, is better known as
a member of the Exonerated Five. Their story was most
recently presented in the 2019 Netflix documentary series
called "When They See Us" by director Ava DuVernay. Salaam
was one of the five teenagers who were wrongfully convicted
of the 1989 assault of a female jogger in New York City’s
Central Park. Eventually the actual criminal was sentenced,
while evidence cleared the original five accused teenagers.
Salaam’s 45 minute speech explained his journey through the
series of events that began with the accusation and
continued years after the exoneration.
"We were guilty because of our colored skin. Everyone
shouldn't judge a book by its color but we do. As the future
movers, you must understand how important pouring into
others is, because this conference is pouring into you. I
was the only one without a video or taped confession but I
was still sent to prison. By 1989, over 400 articles were
written about the five of us. No one came to us and asked
why we were accused. Those articles included our names,
phone numbers and addresses. We were between 14-16 years of
age. Even Donald Trump published a full-page advertisement
where he asked the state to kill us. Even 30 years later,
this case still resonates with people. Many thought we had
to be guilty of something or gotten off on a technicality.
However, back in 1990 I still had hope, we weren't allowed
to get our affairs in order or hug our family once the
verdict was read. Prayer and meditation got me through
prison. Prayer is you talking to God, while mediation is God
talking back to you. I had to remember that I was born with
a purpose," explained Salaam.
The conference continued following the keynote speakers
address with panel discussions. The panel moderator was
Rhonda Sewell, and the panel members were: Salaam; RaShya
Ghee, University College of Law professor and staff
attorney; Albert Earl, prevention education specialist; and
Jeff Newton, university's chief of police and director of
public safety.
Toledo EXCEL was established in 1988 to help
underrepresented students including African, Asian, Hispanic
and Native Americans, for success in college. Through summer
institutes, academic retreat weekends, campus visits and
guidance through the admission process, students increase
their self-esteem, cultural awareness and civic involvement.
Toledo EXCEL is a part of the Office of Multicultural
Student Success, which is in the Division of Student
Affairs. The UToledo Joint Committee includes
representatives from the University, Toledo Public and
Parochial schools, and civic and community leaders from the
city of Toledo. The mission of the committee is to bring
together people in the community interested in the education
of underrepresented youth.
"I want to thank the student who played a role this morning.
I want to thank the University of Toledo volunteers, elected
officials, corporate partners, the advisory board, EXCEL
staff, my wife Brenda, and the 1500 students who joined us
today," explained Young.
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