University of Oxford - Day 3

Warm greetings and salutations! I hope that this note finds everyone doing well. Today is my third day at Brasenose College, University of Oxford. I am hear attending the Oxford Symposium on School-Based Family Counseling, which only 25 scholars and practitioners from around the world were invited to attend.

As you can imagine, I am the only African American scholar participating in this year's symposium, but I hope to represent you well. To this end, I give my lecture tomorrow... It will focus on some of my research focusing on black male college students who were STEM majors.

My dear brothers, this place is an intellectual haven... steep with long traditions that extend back many to the 12oos. It has a rich history of producing fine men and women leaders in our past and current global village. University of Oxford is one of the educational homes of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Dr. Alain LeRoy Locke (the first African American Rhodes Scholar), etc.

Yesterday, I had the privilege to go on a tour and hear about these traditions. I must confess, being a child of the South who values knowledge, history and tradition, chills went up and down my spine. But, I was disappointed that I was not able to see the contributions of our ancestors.

Due to this disappointment, I asked our tour guide questions about who were the first Africans and/or African Americans to attend University of Oxford and work as academics. As you can probably imagine, she was unable to recollect but eventually said she thinks it was some African American from the states. I smiled, and I said, "You must be referring to great Dr. Alain LeRoy Locke, who is often referred as the 'father of the harlem rennaissance."

This was another teachable moment for me. It is critical that you thirst, yearn, and search for knowledge about yourself equally as much as we learn about other things. As you can imagine, I will let the group know about Dr. Locke, as well as my research findings.

I hope that everyone is doing well. I believe, in the immediate future, one of you will represent our community and OSU, as a Rhodes Scholar. Keep the faith, stay persistent, and always work work very hard.

Peace and blessings!