The message is about responsibility.
Steve Perry, CNN education contributor, will speak at Auburn Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. in the Student Center ballroom. The lecture will be hosted by the Black Student Union.
"I will call him more so one of the African American leaders from our generation that's actually getting some light," said Shawntell Pace, president of the Black Student Union. "We didn't want to bring a Cornel West or a reverend; we wanted to bring somebody nowadays where five years from now when our students look back, they're, 'Oh, he came to our school, and he spoke really, really well.'"
Perry is a regular figure on CNN and speaks frequently on issues regarding education and the African-American community. Perry is also known for a number of accomplishments, including founding Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., in 2005 and publishing a best-selling book.
Capital Preparatory is recognized for having a 100 percent graduation rate.
"We didn't believe that poverty or race or where you were born had any indication as to whether or not you could be successful," Perry said. "It's not that we believe it's where you start life, but where you end that determines how successful you will be. And so, therefore, we wanted a school that would change the direction of history, not just for the individuals, but education as we know it."
Perry's best-known book, "Man Up! Nobody is Coming to Save Us," was published in 2006.
"'Man Up' is a call to action for the African American community," Perry said. "It says that black people, we need to stop blaming everybody and everything else for the circumstances that we find ourselves in. We have to own the pieces of it that are truly ours, and with that accept full responsibility and the power to do something. So it's as much a call to action as it is an introspective look into who we are and who we should be. It talks about everything from black churches to black parenting, the way we eat, drink and engage in intimate relations."
Perry, who often speaks at universities, said his message to the college community is a call to action as well.
"Many a generation has been defined by what they did when they were kids," Perry said. "A new generation is the consumer. You guys take technology, but don't create. You participate, but don't lead. I think that this is a sleeping lion of a generation. I think that there's never been a generation that has had more access to resources than this one."
Perry said the resources to which students now have access give them the power to revolutionize their generation.
"We don't need this generation to necessarily promote as much as we need the American college students to perceive the great position they find themselves in and make it better for those people that are in front and behind," Perry said.
Pace said the Union's purpose for hosting the lecture is to encourage students to take initiative.
"Who would have known that this guy who was raised in the projects would own a high school, and at that a 100 percent graduation rate?" Pace said. "Like, this can be done. And not only this can be done, but other things out there that you imagine or dream can be done as well."
The lecture is free to anyone who wishes to attend. Guests are encouraged to arrive early for seating.
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