CSI star speaks to youth at UT

Education and empowerment were the themes of the day as actor, author and motivational speaker Hill Harper spoke to students this past Saturday as the keynote speaker for the 25th Annual Minority Youth Conference. The event was hosted by the UT Office of Excellence and the UT Joint Committee, and featured various city leaders and Toledo EXCEL alumni. An estimated 1200 students, parents and faculty members filled the Student Union Auditorium as the best-selling author shared his message of setting and fulfilling goals and the importance of education.

Best-known for his role as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes on the hit CBS crime drama "CSI: NY," Harper is the author of two New York Times Bestselling books, "Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny" and "Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny." This past year he was also extremely involved in  the 2008 presidential election and campaigned heavily for his Harvard Law classmate and friend Barack Obama. 

"With this also being a political year, we wanted to bring in someone who was involved politically," said David Young, interim director of the Office of Excellence. "We wanted someone who could encourage and inspire students, and Hill Harper fit both areas. The conference always puts an emphasis on education, and when we looked at his background, we just thought someone that persistent with their own education would be the perfect person."


A graduate of Brown University, Harper holds degrees in both law and government from Harvard Law where he graduated magna cum laude. At the conference, he discussed the tools needed for success and ways in which young people could reach their goals. He went over what he referred to as the "blueprint for success" and talked about the importance of having positive role models. Known for his down-to-earth manner of speaking, Harper said his main goal was to inspire students. Several times during his speech Harper left the stage to interact with students.

"Most adults undervalue young people," he said. "They think all they want to do is play video games, and most young people I know aren't that way. Most of them want to learn, they want to be mentored, they want success. They want to achieve, but they don't have a lot of people around them, a lot of adults to give them the guidance they want. If they do, what they're getting from them [adults] is more judgmental rather than more ‘what are you passionate about?' I come across as maybe an ‘older brother' type of figure, not someone who's like a judgmental parental figure. I think that the words I say are received in  a way that feels more collaborative."


Harper's approach proved successful as many students said they were motivated by his words.


"I really liked listening to him speak," said Marcus Brooks, a 15-year-old high school student who attended the program with his mother. "He said things in a way I could understand, and he was really interesting and honest. Listening to him speak made me want to read his books."


Created in 1988 by Dr. Helen Cooks, Toledo EXCEL is a university-based program that mentors and offers scholarships to underrepresented high school students. The program accepts 50 high school freshmen annually and prepares students for college through academic retreats, summer institutes and trips abroad.

"The Toledo EXCEL Program is the kind of program I support, and I want it to be jump-located across the country," Harper said. "[People] here don't know how advanced this type of program is and how needed it is. When I heard about David Young and what he's doing and that the university supports it, I wanted to support it [the program] in return."


The 42-year-old actor also spoke Friday on campus at an event hosted by the Black Student Union. At the event he delivered a similar message in front of about 100 students, offering strategies for success and how to overcome obstacles.

"I think students were attracted to his overall story," said Treyken Addison, a senior majoring in law and social thought and sociology and president of the BSU. "If you look at him as an individual, coming from Iowa, going to a school like Brown University and then going to Harvard Law and getting dual degrees — that's phenomenal. For African-Americans, male and female, I feel like he is someone they can look at almost like a Barack Obama figure, and say to themselves ‘we can do this.'"


At both events Harper discussed his longtime friendship with president Obama. The two met 20 years ago while attending Harvard Law and quickly developed a friendship after playing basketball in the school gym.

"At Harvard, the library is always full and the gym is empty," Harper said. "I would go to the gym to blow-off steam, and one day I saw this tall, skinny guy with his socks pulled up too high, and he asked if I wanted to play basketball with him. He told me his name was Barack, and from then on we became friends."


Harper spoke of the president's election and the impact it has had on today's youth and future generations.

"I think the one huge impact is that it takes off the table people saying, ‘I can't do this,' and ‘I cant do that' and ‘I can't achieve this,' Harper said. "There's no excuses anymore. You can't say ‘I would've done this, but I am this or that. There's no glass ceiling anymore because [his election] proves that anything is possible."