The Eloquence of Scribes

Dr. Alvin Thornton brought up a very important topic this past week in freshman seminar; his speech called “The Eloquence of the Scribes” touched on many things; however, I believe the most important questions were asked of the Class of 2015. We were asked to redefine citizenship, and we were asked to think about the great questions of our time, and we were asked what it means to be happy, have liberty and due process.

As a student of Howard University I understand my responsibility to constantly ask and answer these questions after the lecture Dr. Thornton gave. This responsibility is a part of being the “intellectual vanguard’s” Dr. Thornton spoke of. At Howard University, an HBCU, we have to reach new levels as a whole.

The very first step to being the “best and brightest” at Howard is to ask these questions mentioned above by Dr. Thornton. The second step is to answer these questions after thinking about them long and hard. From there I must ask these questions of my peers aloud in classes and stir up discussion on these important topics. Once I hear the answers of my peers I must open my mind to these different ideas and broaden my perspective to allow these different ideas into my own.

I believe that being a citizen of the world is very similar to what I stated above; it’s all about service learning and communal responsibility. Dr. Gbadegesin said it best a few weeks ago in our second lecture “the good of your existence is that it matters not just for you but for others as well.” Before being a citizen of the world you must be a citizen of your nation and then spread yourself outwards by being informed of the things going on in the world and involving your community in the solution to the world’s problems. So by making sure that others are informed about these questions and know how to reach the answers I am being a citizen of the world as well as the “best and brightest” of Howard.

I consider Ralph Bunche to be a very important figure at Howard University, where he taught for six years. Bunche was the recipient of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation between Israel and Palestine. The fact that he is a part of Howard University’s history is wonderful because he was such an impeccable intellectual and person. Bunche allows me to dream bigger because he opens up my mind to where a Howard education can get me.