>> To all Hall of Fame inductees, family and friends, special guests and my fellow Buckeye alumni. I am honored to welcome you back tonight. My name is Tracy Townsend, I'm with Ten TV and I'm so pleased to be your host for the second day of the inaugural office of Diversity and Inclusion Hall of Fame awards ceremony.
We have a terrific group of honorees to celebrate tonight. As we get our second night of festivities underway. Here's a quick preview of what we have in store for you on night too. We have a great group to honor tonight, including five individuals who have meant so much to the causes of equity and justice.
Political activist Faye Waddleton, Social psychology professor Dr. Claude Mason Steele, Educator Dr. Frank W Hale Jr., Architect Curtis Moody and Executive leader Sid Wilson. We also have a group being inducted tonight, collectively, the OSU 34, a group of Black student activists who were arrested for leading the April 26, 1968 takeover of the main administrative building on the oval.
You'll hear much more about them later. Our first honoree tonight is Miss Faye Waddleton, a reproductive rights activist who was the first Black and youngest president ever elected to lead Planned Parenthood. Let's learn more about her journey.
>> Our first honoree is Faye Waddleton, the first Black woman and youngest person ever to head Planned Parenthood.
Born in St. Louis in 1943 to a construction worker father and a minister mother, Alice Faye Waddleton was a precocious only child, who began school at age four and graduated from high school by age 16. Entering The Ohio State University at age 16, Faye earned a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1964.
While working to obtain her master's degree at Columbia, Waddleton interned at a Harlem hospital, where she saw thousands of women suffering from the consequences of poor health care as well as the side effects of unsafe abortions. While working as a nursing instructor and serving as assistant director of nursing and CEO at the Visiting Nurses association for the Dayton Health Department, Miss Waddleton began a neighborhood prenatal care program that became a model for agencies nationwide.
Heading the Miami Valley chapter of Planned Parenthood after serving on the local board, Waddleton led a six-county expansion of reproductive health and education programs. Including training for resident physicians, public school staff and international family planning service providers. Her successes in the Dayton area led Waddleton to be appointed as president of the National Reproductive Rights Organization in 1978.
At the time of her appointment, Waddleton was the first Black and the youngest person ever to lead the venerable group. With the abortion debate a national lightning rod, Waddleton steered her organization through a difficult period in the 1980s when Planned Parenthood clinics endured shootings, bombings and fires as employees were killed or injured.
Throughout her 14-year tenure, Waddleton kept the focus on the essential rights of women to make their own choice about their bodies. As she shaped the group into a vibrant grassroots advocacy network and powerful lobbying force, Waddleton expanded Planned Parenthood's range of services, allowing them to reach 5 million women by 1990.
When Waddleton stepped down from Planned Parenthood in 1992, the organization was the 7th largest nonprofit organization in the world. After leaving Planned Parenthood, Waddleton pursued a career as a TV talk show host and formed the center for the Advancement of Women, a nonprofit Think Tank conducting research for public education and policy advocacy.
Under her leadership, the organization received international acclaim for its groundbreaking research and advocacy on women's opinions, experiences, roles and status in society. In more recent years, Waddleton has become a co-founder and director at Arrow Q, a quantum computing company inducted into the Ohio Women's hall of Fame in 1986 and the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
Wattleton was given the Ohio State University alumni Medalist award for national and international career distinction in 2014. Miss Waddleton currently lives in New York City and has a daughter, Felicia Megan Gordon.
>> Why do I think this award is important? I think it's important because it's really very vital that it be understood that people of color can achieve success at Ohio State.
There certainly is always more work to do. There is always a challenge that we can always do better. We live in a society, and the same aches and pains that afflict our society, I'm sure even today, can be found on Ohio State's campus. So it doesn't mean that we are perfect, that our alma mater is the ideal, although it was ideal for me at the time.
But it means that we can always aspire, and this, I hope, will be an award that is aspirational for people who think about coming to Ohio State and who think about becoming engaged in diversity and inclusion activities. It's a very important signal that Ohio State really did nurture and did push into the world a lot of well-prepared people that hopefully have made and will continue to make a contribution.
I would like to thank the folks in the years that I was at Ohio State who made my education possible by providing room and board for me free of charge. Now that came with a cost. My roommate Jan Ruffin, who has gone on beyond, and I did not have the means and had it not been for those facilities and those resources that really came out of our sweat equity, too.
We spent a lot more time on the board learning our craft, but also providing woman power for the university hospital medical and the medical center. So I would like to thank those people who felt that this was a fair compensation for the work that we were able to provide in the course.
In due course of our learning. I would like to thank Dean Melnick for the support that she has continued to provide in my career and for the example of leadership that she has offered in building and continuing to build the school to a college. I would like to thank those professors that gave me insight beyond the narrow campus of Ohio State and a world beyond. But most of all, I would like to thank the institution for giving me a perspective and a way of looking at life. And how I could apply what I had learned at Ohio State, and how I was prepared for the better good.
I could never have expected to end up with a career of leading women's reproductive rights and women's reproductive health. That turned out to be an opportunity for me that I took advantage of. Ohio State, was a place that, really, if you survived, you gained a lot of courage.
And courage is a very important quality to have to sustain you throughout your life and through the successes, as well as the downturns of life, because there will be those downturns. So, I kudos to the folks who are also becoming a part of the Diversity and Inclusion Hall of Fame.
I'm very, very honored, for this recognition. So I thank those people who chose to select me. I hope that I will continue to live up to the example that is being set by this structure. I hope that I will always continue to bring honor in the work that I do for the world.
And the contributions that I hope to continue to make, that I bring honor to the university, The Ohio State University.
>> Faye Wattleton's legacy means so much to me as a Black woman, and as a Black STEM student. From her career as a fantastic nurse, to being the youngest elected president of Planned Parenthood.
To her many humanitarian awards, including the American Humanist Award. To her induction to the National Women's Hall of Fame, all of this work goes to show what compassion and dedication can yield. She has done so much for women and the reproductive health in America. And I hope that as I continue my career in medicine that I can have just as much impact as she has.
>> Known as the OSU 34, this group of 34 Black students was arrested on April 26, 1968, after occupying the university's central administrative building, demanding that systemic changes be made at Ohio State. They wanted courses that reflected the Black experience, and more diversity in the front of the classroom, as well as more opportunities for students of color to study at Ohio State.
Along with the arrest, some members of the OSU 34 suffered severe consequences from the university, including suspension and expulsion from the university. But from the seeds of their rebellion, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion would begin to sprout two years later, in 1970, when its predecessor, the Office of Minority Affairs, was created.
To give you a better sense of exactly what was in the hearts and the minds of those students more than 50 years ago, we have a special reading tonight of a fiery interview from one of the students, Al Mtu. Ohio State student Judah Spears will be performing the monologue, Judah.
>> I'd just like to make this clear, okay, I grew up and was raised in Brooklyn. When I graduated from high school in 1964, my concern right then and there was just to stay out of Vietnam. The types of experiences my father had in the Second World War, the types of experiences Black Americans had, it shook me.
Muhammad Ali said that no Viet Cong had ever called me the N-word. And that was enough for me to say, no, I'm not going. So I started off at a small school called Central State College in Xenia, Ohio. I was studying to become a dentist at the time, and I remember they kept saying, well, we don't have the equipment here for you, but they do at Ohio State.
So, one day, I hitchhiked to Columbus, 62 miles of cornfields on both sides of the road, wow, this is a big school, I want to go here. So the following year, I transferred to Ohio State. I wanted to go here, but, everything came to an abrupt halt. April 25, 1968, some Black ladies on the campus bus were assaulted.
We were not to be overlooked, we were to be taken serious. And so we marched into the campus police precinct, and into the Student Union, we agreed that enough was enough. April 26, 1968, I remember the day that Black students at Ohio State fought the power. We took a concern straight to the second floor of the administrative building, where we knew all the officials would be.
Our key demands, to establish a Black Studies department on campus, to have Black faculty be involved. End housing discrimination on and off-campus, and justice for the women accosted on that bus. An offering of agreement, a time of elation, but, I wasn't jubilant. I went to the oval and made an appeal to the white students there, now is the time to assist your comrades, your Black comrades, but that identified many of us.
They tried to offer us some type of stipend to be involved in the conversation with the university, but, the fear had been placed in all of us. We were all afraid, I just focused on graduating. I got a bachelor of science in 1970, and I returned immediately upon graduation in New York City, 62 miles, cornfields.
I wanted to go here. On my way back, I got picked up by the sheriff. What are you doing here, he said. I'm just trying to hitchhike back to Xenia. You know what, you better get out of my town by sundown, I want you out of my town by sundown.
So I left.
>> Our next honoree is the OSU 34, a group of Black students who were arrested during a takeover of the main administrative building in 1968. They came from towns big and small, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, East Liverpool, Middleton, Brooklyn, New York and other points in between.
They were first year Buckeye students on up to graduating seniors, studying various subjects, a mix of social work, education, commerce, and liberal arts. They were the OSU 34, a group of Black Student Union members arrested in the aftermath of the impromptu takeover of the main administration building on April 26, 1968.
And the university would never be the same after they took their stand against education inequality, racial disparities, and police misconduct. The occupation began that morning, after four Black coeds were forced off a shuttle bus when the white driver asked them to stop discussing a recent Black Student Union meeting.
When Ohio State Police were summoned, two of the young women were manhandled by the police, according to the students. When a group of Black students were refused admittance to the police station to file a complaint, 40 students headed for the main administrative building, now known as Bricker Hall, determined to have their voices heard.
We got into the administration building to try and talk about the situation, and we were told, the police didn't do anything. The meeting is over, recalled John Sidney Evans, the spokesman for the Black Student Union. And I, basically, said, the meeting isn't over until we said it was over.
As the day wore on, the students refused to let Gordon Carson, the university's vice president for business and finance, leave their meeting, without first agreeing to their demands. While the shuttle bus incident pushed the students into action, Action. The changes the students sought had been a topic for weeks and a series of meetings with university administrators.
The Black Student Union wanted more courses that reflected the Black experience. Black faces in the front of the classroom, and more opportunities for students of color to study at Ohio State. With the Black students occupying Gordon's office on the second floor, a few members of the group slipped away and headed to the oval to rally white students.
As the afternoon wore on, a wave of white anti-war activists flooded into the first floor of the building, serving as a potential buffer between the Black students and the police, who were rumored to be on their way. While the confrontation ended after the Black students were assured changes would be made.
A grand jury eventually indicted 34 members of the Black Student Union, charging each member with felony kidnapping and conspiracy charges, as well as trespassing. Ultimately, the most serious felony charges against the students were dismissed, leaving most to plead guilty to misdemeanor trespassing charges. But eight members of the group were expelled by the university for their roles in the occupation.
While the tactics of the Black Student Union and those known as the OSU34 can be debated, there is no doubt that their principled stand brought major changes to Ohio State. In 1970, the Office of Minority Affairs, now known as the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, was created by University Board of Trustees to begin addressing the systemic inequities brought to the forefront by those students.
A half century later, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion proudly considers the OSU34's rebellion to be an act of great service to the thousands of historically underrepresented students who followed in their footsteps. It was nothing less than the day that the movement for greater diversity, equity and inclusion was born at Ohio State.
>> This is my mother, Lavera Brown. She was Lavera Henry 52 years ago, and I am so thankful that she is here and will acknowledge or be aware that the OSU34 being honored. She is one of the five parents who came to the university, actually to the court, and was on the witness stand to attest to us as young people, good students.
Thank you, mother.
>> At the time that all of this happened, I don't even think that we were thinking about consequences as we were about what had been done unto us. So no one ever thought that, we're going to end up being indicted, we're going to end up being expelled.
That was not things that were more forefront in our minds, as it was about having that important conversation and getting some resolution about how we felt and how unworthy we felt because of what had happened to us.
>> We had a very small group of us, core group, that began to meet around the issues that concerned Black Americans at the time.
Which were housing, and primarily the discrimination of housing, both on and off campus, was the number one concern we had.
>> You should not assume that somebody else will do it. And the other part of that is it doesn't take a lot of people to create something which can move its own momentum.
>> I certainly was motivated by what I thought were some just fearless, thoughtful students, very mature, who had depth. And really had a grasp and sense of the world and Black people in it, and articulated that in ways that I had nothing at 17, 18 years of age.
>> We didn't have any professional people, we had, I think, three professors, nobody in administration, etc, but the people that cleaned up, fed us in the dormitories, appreciated what we tried to do. It was a great experience, and I hope that we made an impact.
>> We certainly had, I believe, an impact in terms of increasing Black studies or, in fact, getting it launched, increasing faculty, Black faculty.
And I think for us, a key element was an extension of the Black Student Community into the city of Columbus and the actual center that we pushed for in Columbus proper.
>> It means a lot to me to know that what we did then, our actions then, our beliefs then, has brought about a change that 50 years later, you are told, thank you.
>> These students represent a movement that has impacted and empowered student advocates on this campus for generations. These people were simply trying to advocate on behalf of Black students and when they tried to meet with administrators, not only were they ignored, but punished. The OSU34 demonstrates that real change, real social change on this campus will always need to be driven by student advocates.
And often, that weight is carried by our marginalized students. Thank you to the OSU34 and to every other trailblazer who sacrificed their own well-being to improve the community around them.
>> Thank you for those remarks, members of the OSU34. What a fascinating story you all have to tell.
Next, we have a Spoken Word Artist, Atlas the Poet, who has composed an original piece to honor the defiant and necessary stand of the OSU 34. Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, this is bricks of rebellion by Atlas the Poet.
>> Education is not the preparation for life.
Education is life itself. John Dewey. And aren't we always learning how schools of thought are tethered to colonialism? While pride and oneself and culture is accused to be radical in theory and in practice, we allow them to curse our mother tongue, making my native dialect substandard. Another barrier for my birthright, no language to offer the other the products of segregation, whereas city limits, busing and red lines are cold for erasure.
How budget cuts attached to semantics always leaves Blackness in the negative or undervalued, dependent upon who benefits, a token for their appreciation in this assimilation curriculum. We will call progress, access, but how often have we seen inclusion mutate to gatekeeping or exceptionalism, as if diversity and equity is an open road.
Instead of intersections, they will inquire about how I got here, as if my quest for my own self-determination was not enough, as if me. Passing your literacy test was not enough, as if I was not enough placing an asterisk and conditions on what you know I have overachieved for just to shame my experience.
Like my presence doesn't add value, just to shame my existence, because how often it distorts and pixelates the reflection of your single narrative, it seems. I'm always being told that I have to wait till tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes, I have to wait for another tomorrow. I am not a pacifist, although my tribe is meek, the meek shall and will inherit the earth.
My foremothers and forefathers were forged through fire brimstone, no longer will you render us invisible. No longer will you render us miniscule while standing in soil that seeped in my ancestors blood, standing on the shoulders of giants, it is their legacy that provides proper footing. A foundation carved out a space for me to be whole.
And it's built on the bricks of rebellion.
>> Thank you, Atlas the Poet, for those powerful words and the reminder that we must continue the work of those who came before us. Our next honoree is Dr. Claude Mason Steele, a social psychologist and emeritus professor at Stanford University.
Professor Steele, who received his master's degree and his PhD from Ohio State, is best known for his work in the area of stereotype threat. Stereotype threat attempts to explain real world problems, such as the underperformance of female students in math and science classes, as well as Black students in academic contexts.
Steele's theory suggests that mere knowledge of negative stereotypes can be distracting enough to affect academic performance. In fact, Steele's work has shown that stereotype threat can even lead to Black people having significant health problems. Dr. Steele, the floor is yours.
>> Our next honoree is Claude Mason Steele, an influential social scientist and educator.
Born in 1946 in Chicago to a white social worker, mother and truck driving Black father, Claude Mason Steele's family was deeply involved in social issues and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, his parents met while working for the Congress on Racial Equality, a pivotal civil rights organization.
With issues of racial equality, rights, and the nature of prejudice swirling in his young mind, Claude decided he wanted to study the subjects in a scientific manner, especially the effects on social relationships and the quality of life. After earning his undergraduate degree in psychology at Hiram College in 1967, Steele landed at The Ohio State University, where he earned his master's degree and eventually his PhD in social psychology in 1971.
One of the most influential social scientists of the last half century, Dr. Steele is best known for his breakthrough work on stereotype threat and its application to minority student performance. Our work emerged more from an interest in trying to understand the nature of race, and how race might affect academic performance in general, Steele told PBS in 1999.
It's out of that general interest that we began to uncover some things that we didn't expect really, that seem to be new candidates for explanation of where this gap in test performance is coming from. Steele's work on stereotype threat became a 2010 book, whistling Vivaldi and other clues to how stereotypes affect us.
The book summarizes years of research by the emeritus professor at Stanford University on stereotype threat and the underperformance of minority students in higher education. Dr. Steele's work also has included studying the role of self regulating in addictive behaviors and how the power of self affirmation can be used to reduce biased attitudes.
A common thread weaving through Steele's work is a focus on self evaluation and how people cope with threats to their self image and self identities. Over the years, Dr. Steele has earned numerous honors and accolades, including the Dean's Teaching award at Stanford, the Alexander George Book Award, the William James Fellow Award for distinguished scientific career contributions, and the Legacy Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology.
In the final years before his retirement in 2016, Dr. Steele stepped away from the classroom, tackling high profile roles in higher education, serving as the provost of Columbia University for two years, as well as the executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California at Berkeley. He currently resides in California.
>> Congratulations, Professor Steele. We're going to take a brief break from hearing about our honorees to enjoy another musical performance from singer Caroline Bennett. She had us all feeling good last night, tonight she will be performing You Gotta be by Desiree, the stage is yours, Caroline. Da, da, da, da, da, da, da.
Listen as your day unfolds. Challenge what the future holds. Try to keep your head up to the sky. Lovers they may cause your tears. Go ahead release your fears. Stand up and be counted. Don't be ashamed to cry. You gotta be. You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser, yeah.
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger. You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together. All I know, all I know is love will save the day. Herald what your mother said. Read the books your daddy read. Trying to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time.
Some may have more cash than you. Others take a different view. My, my, my, my. You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser. You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger. You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together.
All I know, all I know is love will save the day. Time asks no questions. It goes on without you. Leaving you behind. If you can't stand the pace. The world keeps on spinning. Can't stop it if you try to. The best part is danger staring you in the face.
Listen as your day unfolds. Challenge what the future holds. Try to keep your head up to the sky. Lovers, they may cause you tears. Go ahead release your fears. Stand up and be counted. Don't you be ashamed to try. You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser.
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger. You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together. All I know is love will save the day. You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser. You gotta be hard, you gotta, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger.
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together. All I know is, love will save the day. You gotta be bad. You gotta be bold. All I know is love will save the day, yeah. There is nothing too hard. There's nothing too hard. All I know is love will save the day.
Be bold, be bold, be bold, be bold, yeah. Be brave, be real, real brave. Be bad, yeah, be bad, be bad. There is nothing too hard. There is nothing too hard. Be wise, be strong, be cool, yeah, be calm. There's nothing too hard. There's nothing too hard. All I know is love will save the day.
Be bad, be brave, be bright. Set the bar higher. All I know is love. All I know is you can save the day, yeah. All I know is that you can pave the way. All I know is if you would just but be brave, be brave, be brave, be brave, be brave, yeah.
>> Our next nominee is Doctor Frank W. Hale Jr., a legendary educator and civil rights crusader who served admirably in various administrative roles at the Ohio State University from 1971 to 1988. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1927, Frank W. Hale Jr., grew up in Topeka, Kansas. He went on to the University of Nebraska, where he earned his bachelor and master's degrees in communications, political science, and English before heading to the Ohio State University.
In 1955, he graduated with a PhD in communications and political science from Ohio State. Hale served as a full professor and chairman of the Department of English at Central State University, a historically Black college, for seven years before taking the presidency of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1966.
After six years as Oakwood's president, Doctor Hale returned to Columbus to take the position as associate dean and chairman of the fellowship committee of the graduate school at Ohio State. Told by department chairs that no qualified Black students were applying to graduate programs, Doctor Hale and his trusted aide, Rose Wilson Hill, began a graduate school recruitment program, fanning out across the country to meet undergraduate students at historically Black colleges and universities.
Through Doctor Hale's efforts, Ohio State became one of the premier producers of Black PhDs in the country throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s. Known by his signature expression, commitment without cash is counterfeit, Doctor Hale saw nearly $15 million in graduate fellowship. Awards granted to approximately 1200 minority students during his 17 years as an Ohio State administrator.
80% of these fellowship recipients earned master's and, or doctoral degrees. As the vice provost for minority affairs in 1982, Dr. Hale launched another flagship program, the Minority Scholars Program, which awarded more than 500 scholarships before his retirement in 1988. Known today as the Morrill Scholarship program, this flagship diversity merit scholarship program continues to offer opportunities to hundreds of students from diverse backgrounds each year.
Married to retired elementary school teacher Mignon Scott Hale, Dr. Hale crusaded for the rights of Blacks within the 7th day Adventist Church throughout his lifetime. In 2010, Dr. Hale was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame. The author of 11 book, and more than 50 professional journal articles, Dr. Hale became an iconic figure at Ohio State, who moved administrative mountains to find new pathways to higher education for historically underrepresented minority students.
Upon his retirement, Emerson Hall was renamed Frank W. Hale Hall in his honor. Today, it serves as the home base for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and a symbolic home away from home for historically underrepresented students. For his stellar scholarship, visionary leadership, and committed mentorship, Dr. Hale was lauded as a giant at Ohio State when he died in 2011.
He was a force to be reckoned with, who opened the doors of opportunity to underserved students through sheer force of his intellect, and determination, said Ohio State's president E. Gordon Gee. Frank Hale richly deserved the honor of having Hale Hall named for him. Indeed, a small piece of this campus carries his name, but every inch bears his imprint.
>> I knew my husband as a man who was deeply concerned about the civil rights struggle of the past, and how it could be transmitted to today's generation of young people in a way that would help them face the legacy of their ancestors with pride, and with an energizing wake up call that would shake them up from the unspeakable tragedy of indifference.
Frank would often say in his speeches, not to know who you are, is to let others define who you are, and what contributions your ancestors have made. If people can define you, they can confine you. We are confined to when we allow others to omit evidence of our achievements in the canons of historiography.
This award gives me hope that my husband's legacy for social justice and civil rights will continue to inspire others in our public and academic communities.
>> For me, Dr. Frank Hale's legacy means opportunity and community. I could go on and list his various achievements from being a researcher, to an author, to an educator to a civil rights crusader, and so much more, but what matters most to me is the impact he has made for Black and brown students like myself on this university's campus.
In 1982, he founded the Minority Scholars Program, which is now known as the Morrill Scholarship Program. This tuition based scholarship has granted me and so many others the access to have a college education. Not only that, but I have joined a network of trailblazers and change agents who are working to make the world a better place in real time.
Through Dr. Hale's leadership and vision, so many students like myself have been set up for success academically, professionally, and socially, so thank you Dr. Frank Hale for your legacy.
>> Our next honoree is Curtis Moody, a renowned architect who built the largest Black owned and managed design firm in the country.
Born in 1950, Curtis Moody grew up in a rowhouse in the Weinland Park neighborhood in a family of seven. A three-sport athlete at Columbus North High School, Moody became interested in becoming an architect after seeing drawings of buildings and houses on the drafting table of a contractor who was friends with his father.
Told by a high school guidance counselor that Blacks don't do that, and it was wishful thinking for him to consider becoming an architect, Moody turned down more than a dozen scholarship offers to walk on the basketball team at the Ohio State University because of the school's architecture major.
I'm glad that I didn't listen, and this is something that I passed on to my children, and what I tell young people today, Moody said during a recent interview. The only thing standing in between what you want and are going after is you. Starting his own architecture firm in 1982 with a single employee, Moody quickly combined forces with engineering firm Howard E.
Nolan, and the powerhouse firm of Moody Nolan was born. More than 300 design citations and awards later, Moody Nolan is the largest Black owned and managed design firm in the country, with more than $750 million in building construction each year. While the Moody portfolio stretches from coast to coast, Moody's fingerprints are all over Ohio State's campus, having served as the principal architect on the new Ohio Union, the Covelli Center, the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, and recreational and physical activity center, better known as RPAC.
But Moody's favorite project at Ohio State was building value City Arena, home to the Buckeye basketball teams. Being an alumni, participating in the athletic program, and now creating a place for new student athletes to make their own connections and memories, is truly special, Moody told the Dispatch. While Moody's company has become a household name in the architecture world, they were the first Black owned company to be given the architecture firm award in 2021.
He readily recalls struggling to gain respect, even once being asked by a prospective client if he really did the design work that he claimed to have done. In recent years, the city of Columbus has praised Moody for his work transforming the historic near east side by designing and renovating theaters, schools, and parks, while remaining true to the culture of the community over the past 35 years.
And there's also the Legacy House Project that Moody designed and built in the Linden area, a mortgage free, single-family home that the architect gave away to a single mother of three. We had the desire to see something more tangible in our charitable giving, Moody said in 2018.
We determined that since we are architects, and what we do is design, why don't we do something that is within our wheelhouse? It's all part of Moody's philosophy of paying forward to a community where his firm has found groundbreaking success over the years. An avid fisherman, Moody and his wife, Elaine, spend plenty of time near the water, living in a home designed by Moody himself that overlooks Hoover Reservoir.
>> I think my father's legacy is, I borrow from him. He talks about this project we did called the Legacy House, and he talks about it as a drop in the ocean that can begin to create waves. And I feel like we're at a point in time where we're beginning, the boat is rocking a little bit, because I feel like we're at the beginnings of some long, long needed changes.
And I feel like his legacy is to be many, many drops in the ocean, and it's beginning to create ripples, and it's finally at that point where it's rocking the boat and people are noticing. And hopefully when we look back years and years from now, I mean, it'll be a tsunami, so, yeah, the waves have changed.
So I've always felt that perseverance By any individual is something that really needs to be encouraged amongst us, because we've all heard the phrase, if you get knocked down, get back up and all that. But perseverance is just that, it's you run into obstacles, and you can't let that obstacle be the determination that you're not gonna go any further than what that obstacle maybe allows you.
You either go over, round, under, or some kind of way, you find a way to address that obstacle and don't let it defeat you, because there's going to be plenty that just aren't life. I mean, there's going to be obstacles that come up, and then there's gonna be people that just doubt.
They just are built that way, and you can't let those that feel that way be the ones that make you take a different course than what your passion leads you to.
>> His legacy is much different than he's passed the baton. It's very much an us legacy, and it's a platform that he built a platform for us all to take advantage of.
So I really do think a part of the legacy of that platform is to continue to build and continue to find more plateaus, to give more people access, to have the opportunity to say, hey, I could do this or I could do that. That is really what the future is, and I think part of that legacy is going to be always continuing to look up and question, can we do more?
>> I first thank my wife as somebody that supported me in everything. She was there at the beginning when I started the firm, highs and lows with me now, that's a great thing. And then kids, I've had been fortunate to have three good sons, and then I got to go to my entire staff.
I have partners, all my partners in the firm and quite frankly, we've been fortunate. And this year, Moody Nolan was recognized as the AIA National Firm award winner, architectural firm award winner for the nation, not as an African American firm, just as in this case, for the whole nation.
And that comes because all those people that have done good work for us, those that are not with us anymore, and those that are with us. But it gets back to my first comment earlier, team. It took a whole bunch of people; it continues to take a whole bunch of people.
So it's not just me, it's all the people that support our efforts and then the clients that had faith in us to hire us. So I think everybody, and of course, I think the Ohio State University. So thank you.
>> Our next nominee is Sid Wilson, a legendary Wall Street financial analyst and current CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility.
Born in Washington Heights in New York City to Dominican parents, Sid Wilson grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey. After attending high school in Paramus, New Jersey, Wilson headed off to the Ohio State University, where he earned an economics degree in 1994. As an Ohio state student, Wilson served as the first Afro Latino head of the Latinx Student association, where he led a successful petition drive to get Spanish speaking channels Telemundo and Univision added to the local cable lineup.
Wilson said the fight was a reminder that we can all make a difference. Let's not wait for someone else to be the solution, he said. We can be the solution to the many challenges that are happening in our society. While working as a waiter at a Pizza Hut in College, Wilson took an unpaid job in the mail room at a Columbus Payne, Weber and company, telling his boss, if I'm not the best mailboy you ever had, you can fire me.
The four-month unpaid job led to other opportunities at the investment firm, and by 2006, Wilson was ranked as the nation's top specialty retail analyst by Forbes. Today, Wilson uses the story of his improbable rise from the mail room to the boardroom to inspire a network of young leaders who he mentors.
If a male boy can become a number one ranked Wall Street analyst, there's nothing anybody can't do. In 2009, Wilson was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Museum of the American Latino Study Commission. While the proposed construction of a new Smithsonian Museum on the National Mall has yet to happen, Wilson continues to lead advocacy efforts at continuing congressional support for the museum's completion.
In 2014, Wilson switched gears by bringing his decades of Wall Street finance experience to a new advocacy role. Working on behalf of Hispanics across the country as president and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. In this role, Wilson directs programs that advance Hispanic inclusion in the areas of employment, procurement, philanthropy and governance at Fortune 500 companies.
Wilson's goal is increase representation of Hispanics at all levels of corporate America. An early riser by nature, Wilson makes time in his schedule to talk with students and other young people who seek out his advice. I'm a firm believer that we have an obligation, that when we succeed, we always keep the door open and give back and make a difference, he said recently.
When you succeed, you give back, but when you give back, you succeed. As Wilson looks back on his experiences at Ohio State, he said his college days prepared him for the leadership roles he tackles now. No matter where I go, my Buckeye pride always comes with me, he said.
>> Hello, Saludos, this award means so much to me to be inducted into the inaugural 2021 hall of Fame of my beloved alma mater. I live the Ohio State University's vision of what is a strong, and true and accomplishing America. Because I learned academically but being involved in the community at Ohio State and making a positive difference helped carve me to who I am today.
Including while I was a student at Ohio State launching a petition drive to get the cable company to add all these to the cable lineup. And this was done, attempted so many times by adults but I was proud that as a student at Ohio State University, that we were able to accomplish that.
And that also leads my other advice to our next generation. That your youth is your power. Use your youth as your power and don't let anybody tell you what you cannot do. With a degree from the Ohio State University sky is the limit for you, and you can make a difference right now, just as I did when I was a student and now as a proud alumnus.
So I just wanna again thank The Ohio State University, thank the office of Diversity and Inclusion for this incredible honor to be inducted into the inaugural class of 2021 ODIHE Hall of Fame. Thank you again, from the Ohio State University. The Ohio State University. So thank you very much Selena Alvarado.
For me, Cid Wilson's legacy means my value and potential as a Latina in the business field is unimaginable. His dedication and perseverance drives me to reach for those executive positions because I know it's possible and encouraged. It's incredibly inspiring Inspiring to know people like Sid Wilson are out there fighting specifically for Latino men and women.
And it reminds me that we too, deserve a seat at the table.
>> Thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories with us, Mister Wilson. Next, we will hear from the man who gave birth to this incredible hall of Fame project, the vice provost for diversity and inclusion, and chief diversity officer here at Ohio State, Doctor James L Moore III.
Doctor Moore, it's all yours.
>> Thank you, Tracy. Again, my name is James Moore, and I am the vice provost and chief diversity officer at the Ohio State University. What amazing celebration this has been over the last two nights. I hope those watching at home have been inspired by the spirit, courage and dedication of our honorees.
I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank our hall of Fame co chairs, Kimberly Lowe Michaela and Yolanda Zapata, as well as ODI's advancement communications team. For all the hard work they put into making these two nights a success, they make us all look good.
Here at ODI, I am very proud of how this ceremony highlights the profound accomplishments of our honorees. This Covid-19 virus has shown us that the states have never been hired for humankind. It is critical that society taps the brainpower of scholars from every background and zip code to solve the world's biggest problems.
To find sustainable answers to the questions that will dominate the coming decades, our country needs individuals who can synthesize facts and work individually or as a part of a team. And learn across boundaries with empathy and understanding, like those students found in our office. As a rising generation calls on America to make good on her promise of equality and justice for all, the urgency of our work has never been greater.
We must be the tip of the sphere, piercing the veil of systemic inequality that confronts our country. In office, we understand well that while the struggle is inevitable, progress is not. Thus, we must continue to find ways to push the envelope forward. As we have learned the past two nights, these buckeye icons of diversity equity inclusion have each done so much to help change our world for the better.
Think of the marcher from Selma to Montgomery who became a high-tech entrepreneur. The army doctor who helped our soldiers struggling with drug and alcohol issues. The federal judge whose landmark ruling gave so many children of color a chance at a better education. The basketball team walk on, who became one of the world's top architects.
And of course, the world class track star who dismantled the nazi dream of aryan racial supremacy one stride at a time. These are men and women, flesh and blood, many of whom still walk among us. They serve as an inspiration, and a reminder that we, too, can succeed in the face of the challenges that we face in our own lives.
Our honorees are incredibly impressive but let me assure you that the next generation is in the starting blocks, ready to be past the baton. In recent years, our office has supported two Rhodes Scholars, a Truman scholar, the president prize winner, and this past year's student body president and vice president.
These are smart and dedicated young people ready to challenge the status quo and change the world. We hope someday soon to have a physical space for our office of Diversity inclusion, Hall of Fame awardees that showcases the accomplishment of those we have honored. We will soon embark on a fundraising campaign to raise the $45 million needed for renovation and expansion of Hale hall that will include an illustrious hall of Fame.
But that is a long story better left for another day, my friends. Again, I would especially like to thank our twelve honorees for all they have done to make lasting change in this world. You mean the world to us all. With that, I will bid you a good night in turning things back over to our wonderful emcee and alumnae, Tracy Townsend to wrap up our event.
Back to you, Tracy.
>> Our time together has grown short as the final night of the ODI hall of Fame induction ceremony draws to a close. I hope you've enjoyed the artistic performances and hear it from the recipients and their family members about their impactful lives. We do have a quick survey that we'd like you to fill out to give us feedback on tonight's event.
You can find it in the chat box right now in your virtual feed. As we end the program, the office of diversity and Inclusion would like to thank everyone who made this night possible. Especially the honorees who have dedicated their lives to the just and noble pursuit of greater inclusion, equity and diversity.
As a rising generation asks America to make good on her promises by making systemic changes, your inspiring lives point the way forward to a brighter, more inclusive future. Thank you and good night.