Imparting some lessons learned at Lincoln University

I got a another glimpse of the future yesterday.

And I can report that great things are in store for Delaware County.

I never miss a chance to take part in the annual Delaware County Youth Leadership Academy.

It gives me the chance to sit down with several small groups of Delco high school sophomores who are selected to take part in the program.

These kids are among the best and brightest in their school. I try to impart on them some of the life lessons and events that shaped who I am and what I do, things like the house I grew up in, my parents, who could not imagine starting a day without consuming at least one daily newspaper. Then there were the eight years I spent under the firm right hand of the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

But one of the favorite things I tell them is of my experience in my first two years at college - at Lincoln University. I always ask them why, when I tell some people that I attended Lincoln, I sometimes get quizzical looks. Most of them have no idea.

Lincoln University is one of the nation's oldest, most prestigious and renowned black schools.

I always ask the kids to look around the table and tell me what they see.

"You see what I saw just about every day growing up in Oxford, Pa. You see a lot of faces that look just like yours."

That's when it starts to dawn on them what I mean.

"Then I walked into a classroom at Lincoln University and looked around, and realized this was the only face in the room that looked that way."

I urge them that if they ever get the opportunity for that kind of minority experience, to grab it with both hands. Either in a social setting, school or work, it's an eye-opening experience. The way I was treated at Lincoln reminded me of the dignity all people deserve, regardless of whether their skin color puts them in the 'minority.'

I use the lessons I learned at Lincoln every day. And I believe the nation would be light years better off in terms of the struggles we deal with every day if everyone had even a small taste of that minority experience.

If nothing else, I hope the kids absorbed that message.

They are interested in being leaders. They are already leaders in their own right, outstanding in their individual school settings. We hardly need evidence that the country continues to struggle with issues of race.

The first step in improving those relations is simply talking about it. That's what I wanted to accomplish yesterday.

My thanks to Catherine Judge-Cardillo for the invitation. I've been doing this for several years now.

I can't wait until next year.