Contact: Zack Plair

STARKVILLE, Miss.—“Where will you be on Labor Day weekend 2035?”

With that prompt from speaker Albert J. Williams, hundreds of students who were gathered in the Mill at MSU Conference Center ballroom – eyes closed – visualized futures that involved success and accomplishment. Moments later, Williams, a Mississippi State alumnus and president of Chevron Pipeline Company, instructed the students to open their eyes.

“That vision you had will not happen if you do not have a plan,” Williams warned. “You must try and not be afraid of failure.”

Williams was one of three keynote speakers Friday [Aug. 28] for the MSU Men and Women of Color Summit, organized by the university’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. He also was one of six MSU alumni and faculty honored for their achievements during an empowerment dinner Thursday night [Aug. 27].

Themed “Reframing the Dialogue around Men and Women of Color: Academic Success in Higher Education,” workshops and panels focused on the importance of education and developing life skills.

More than 700 registered to attend the summit, and students from six other universities – the University of Mississippi, Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State, Mississippi University for Women, Southern Mississippi and Alabama – joined a strong MSU contingent.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum said he believes the university reflects the kind of impact a focus on diversity can make, and events like the summit help strengthen that impact.

“We take great pride in what we do to promote diversity because diversity enriches and empowers any institution and the people in it,” Keenum said.

One component of each keynote speech, however, was perseverance, and Williams hit that keystroke in his Friday morning speech hard and often.

A Jackson native who came to MSU on a football scholarship, Williams dealt with injury and a rigorous academic regimen on his way to earning an historic place in Bulldog football history – he returned an interception for the game-winning touchdown against Louisiana State University in 1990, breaking a five-year losing streak against the Tigers – as well as earning an electrical engineering degree.

His parents, he said, always valued education, leading eight of the 11 children in his family to receive degrees. He urged participants to get the most from their education, welcome adversity as a building block for success and use their “God-given talents” to realize their potential.

“Strive to shape history rather than just be shaped by it,” he said. “Through academic achievement, anything is possible for you and for us. And remember, life itself is a class, and school is always in session.”

Much in the same vein as Williams’ message, lunch speaker Lori A. Harper told summit participants how she trudged through college as a single mother of two and eventually became the first African-American woman to reach vice president status at Ingalls Ship Building. Working out of Pascagoula, Harper manages the company’s supply chain.

“Life happens,” she said. “When life happens, it’s how you respond that makes a difference.”

Participants also heard from La Doris “Dot” Harris, the director of the Office of Impact and Diversity and assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy. She worked in the private sector for almost 30 years before President Barack Obama appointed her to her current post in 2012.

To persevere, she said, students have to fight against fear.

“You should never have fear in anything you do,” Harris said. “When you tolerate fear, you contaminate faith.”

MSU is Mississippi’s flagship research university, available online at www.msstate.edu.