Founders’ Day speaker touts Tougaloo history
By Beauty McClora
Mary Evans Sias used Tougaloo College's history to challenge students to take pride in their institution at its 136th Founders’ Day Convocation.
Sias said Woodworth Chapel was a refuge for blacks during the Civil Rights Movement. During that time, Tougaloo was the only place in Mississippi that blacks could peacefully assemble, because it’s a private institution.
“The Chapel was where we came when there was trouble, and trouble wasn’t al-Qaida, trouble was the Ku Klux Klan,” said Sias, president of Kentucky State University and a summa cum laude Tougaloo graduate.
Sias, who was a first-generation college student, motivated students to go beyond the expected on Oct.16 at Woodworth Chapel.
“My father always encouraged me to try harder, even after earning all A’s on my report card, he would tell me to try harder the next time. In that, he was teaching me that success is a journey, not a destination,” Sias said. “Never be satisfied with where you are. Assign yourselves, students. Never wait to be told to do something.”
Sias said while the 117 Historically Black Colleges and Universities are a small percentage of the number of America's colleges, all HBCUs play a key role in educating black students.
She said most of America's black physicians, lawyers and educators were products of HBCUs. She named a litany of Tougaloo graduates, such as former Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green and U.S. Rep.Bennie Thompson
Tougaloo, which was founded in 1869, by the American Missionary Association of New York, was recorded as one of the most prestigious HBCUs, not only for its curricula but for its support of civil rights.
In honor of that legacy, Tougaloo celebrates its founding each October.
After listening to Sias, students said they were proud to be part of Tougaloo’s heritage
“I was inspired to be a proud Tougaloo student and its roots let me know that I am at a historical place. I am looking forward to bigger and better things in the future,” said Adam Smith, a freshman mathematics major from League City, Texas.
Ashley Williams, a freshman chemistry major from Ocean Springs, said Sias' presentation was educational.
“The speech was captivating. I never realized how instrumental Tougaloo was during the Civil Rights Movement,” she said.
Jarvis McInnis, a freshman English/history major from Gulfport, said he was proud to be a Tougaloo student. Although before hearing Sias, he thought he would never be a prominent Tougaloo graduate.
“I thought I was going to be one of the students that it didn’t hit, but now that I realize what Tougaloo has done, not only for the community but for the nation, I am proud to be a Tougaloo student and I can’t wait to see what big things Tougaloo will do in the future,”McInnis said.
Sayaka Yamamoto, a sophomore art major from Osaka, Japan, was inspired to come to Tougaloo by a family in Atlanta. She said she was glad to learn about black history in the South because people from her country go to the East and West Coasts.
“I talked with an alumnus and he said that there was a Japanese man in his class. Now I know that I am not the first Japanese at Tougaloo and I am glad to hear that, “ Yamamoto said.
Willie Roger, a 1952 Tougaloo graduate, said the college has been a great foundation not only for professionalism but for activism.
“I echo everything she (Sias) said. Often we met in the chapel to plan how we would protest in Jackson because Tougaloo was the only place we could meet in Mississippi. I also remember when Martin Luther King spent time here with ministers from surrounding areas planning protests,” Roger said.
Sias, a native of Jackson, is Kentucky State's thirteenth president. Her prior positions at the University of Texas at Dallas were as senior vice president for student affairs and external relations, associate provost and assistant professor of sociology. Dr. Sias is the past president of the Texas Council of Girl Scouts. Among her many awards are the Texas Women of Distinction Award, presented by the Texas Council of Girl Scouts and the Outstanding Texan Award, presented by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. She was the recipient of a Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship for Black Americans and the National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship in Societal Change and Human Development.
