what role do you want to play and how do you want to play it? this will teach and train you to do that, to be the person to reach back and push forward. i wish you well. keep pushing the brother, so that your generation, could stand up and take a leadership role, but there are challenges. and there challahs particularly when you look at statistically where we are -- and there are challenges particularly when you look gets to sadistically where we are as a community, with respect to drugs and prison, when you look at all those indices that people like the judge communities by, from which they make presumptions and assumptions. . . these are the things that people make presumptions and assumptions. your course, like mine many years ago, should be corrected at best, certainly rocky -- should be crooked at the best, certainly rocky. you are already so from power, by the time you're -- by the fact that you are here, to become a lawyer and do it however you want to do it. i spent a lot of time as lieutenant governor of maryland visiting with 13-year-old to 17- year-old young men in the baltimore detention center. my frustration was not so much that they were there. everyone was telling them that this was all they could do, that this was it. i remember talking to these young men in. -- i remember talking to these young men. we talk about the possibilities, that this is not the final definition of view, that you have the opportunity to take some steps that everyone else is denying and say do not exist. that is what my mother was told about me and that is what i was told about myself. i want you to appreciate what it means to be here at the school at this time. there are generations of young kids right now who will be looking to you, not to bill them out of jail, not to sit in front of them in some correctional institution, but they're going to be looking to to oppose that $10 million deal that they're trying to get it done. they're going to be looking to you to help them build their new home. they're going to be looking to you to help them achieve what everyone talks about as the american dream. and that is the opportunity. that is also the challenge. i wish to the best. wells has something they want to put out there? -- who else has something they want to put out there? yes, ma'am. i will come to you. >> [unintelligible] [laughter] >> hello. how are you? hanging in there. it is so nice to have you here. >> my name is ashley torrez. made second year doctoral student. >> that is a mouth student could a doctoral student of mass comm media's buddies. -- media studies. i am going into my 19th year of school. during that time, i have only had two black instructors. that speaks freely about the disparity of blacks in not only grammar school, but higher education. i am interested in what you would do or what the republican party would do to increase the numbers of more african- americans in education to alter the perception of who is capable of educating the masses? >> that is a very important question. i am sorry. nice to meet you. [laughter] nice to see you. excellent. that is an important question because there are two pillars that you need to appreciate. one is economic and the other is educational. some people think that you can survive with one and not the other and you probably could. i think it is important to appreciate that you need both. if you have that educational foundation, if you have that killer in place, then your ability to do the economic think -- if you have that pillar in place, then you have the ability to do the economic thing. we can afford more than one individual who rises above and creates wealth. a lot of folks gave me a hard time when i talked about hip-hop republicans. i tell you what was interesting about the response that i got when i made that statement. people went to a stereotype. black and white. it was interesting, the responses, because what i said was not talking about republicans walking around with the whole bling thing and the pants. that was not it. it was not glorifying what many in the community were talking about the violence and some of the aspects of the music. it was about the ability to create wealth. it was about the ability to create a legacy well. you have, among steer right now, a generation of african- american entrepreneurs that are creating incredible wealth. and they are investing in the back into themselves and into the community. they are controlling that wealth. how are they doing it? instead of the publishing or the record company owning the rights to their music, they on the record company. that is a big difference. instead of someone else controlling the decisions they are making when it comes to their bottom line, they are the ultimate to determiner of what that bottom line is. there is a very interesting challenge when you talk about education, in particular, because, to get to that point, you're going to need a that foundation. more importantly, it is important to have us in that process. one of my frustrations, as a chairman, is that, when i look around and looking for folks to help build the farm teams, i do not see a lot of folks that look like me. right? and it is a real frustration. it says that the party has not done what it needs to do to engage you and others to be a part of this effort to build this relationship between the republican party and the black community. it is also true for someone like you, who has been in school for a long time, and was to give back by teaching, to stand there as a symbol of black progress and education and to be, hopefully, an example for generations behind you who say, i want to do that. people talk to me about the party and say, one of the problems i have with the gop is that i do not see me represented in it. you're absolutely right. david ecb national convention in 2008? -- did any of ucd national convention in 2008? -- did any of you see the national convention in 2008? there were 38 out of 40,000. that is going to change. i do not know what field will ultimately look like, but it has to change. similarly, what can we do to educate our own within our community? how do we bend down, reach back to do that? we need to those role models? it is tougher now to find them because they are not there. they are not there. it is going to be up to you and your peers to begin to change that dynamic. i do not know if you are ready to do that. the future is of such chaos that it is not very clear whether the job will be there, whether the opportunities will be there, and that is why it is important that we'll begin to engage right now, in this great national debate, about the progression of the country and the consequences to you and your family as you move through this institution and move out into the world. there will be consequences. and they will be big. in some cases, they will not be pretty. you are a generation of young people who have never seen inflation. you have never seen double-digit interest rates. york college alone probably max is out at 7%? 8%? maybe 9%? but you're not spending 15% and 20% on that money. that is a real prospect in the future. why? because of the way the economy is changing and how we balance right now the flow of funds, the creation of debt matters. it is not just a political game in. it is not just michael steele and barack obama going back and forth. there are real consequences on how the next generation of teachers are going to get paid. it is on how the next generation of entrepreneurs are going to create a legacy wealth. that is you. that is not 20 years from now. that is literally 20 minutes after you graduate from this institution. so while you are engaged now in getting this education, that will lead to your ability to create wealth later on and think how your engaging and ask ourselves what is going to mean to you and yours. again, i have my philosophical perspectives. the republican party believes very firmly that the government has a very limited role here, that you are the true engine of wealth creation. how many it of you know or knew that over 70% of the jobs in this country are created by whom? ibm? xerox? small business. that is you. that is you when you wake up one morning and say, you know what? i think i am going to do that they have always wanted to do and start my own business. you're going to file some papers and put some money in the bank and you may or may not tell your spouse that you took out a second mortgage. i have been there. and you're going to make an investment in your going to take a risk. all of a sudden, it is your money because it comes out of the property you own. the question you have to ask yourself is how much of that do you want the government to take from you? how much of that do you want the government to control? that is part of the debate we are seeing unfold today. my coming here is to stimulate the discussion to engage in this generation in the battle of ideas, yes, but to think of what the future's going to look like for you. i think it is a great opportunity irrespective of party differences and party lines and all of that. but it is a chance for you to be involved and to engage in a way that is unprecedented, that we have not seen before. this matters to you, whether you like it or know it or not. yes? >> we have a couple of questions that were written ahead of time and as people came in trade we are running a little short on time. >> ok. >> in the first question is from gary -- from gregory. he asked if republicans opposed to the public option in health care, what alternatives do you propose that all americans are cared for when it comes to the cost of their health care? >> the public option is the center of the debate right now in health care for a host of reasons. the president has outlined, along with speaker pelosi and majority leader reid, what that should look like in turns of the opportunity for you, the individual -- in terms of the opportunity for you, the individual, to take the public option. you can opt into whatever government-run health plan if you want to. or, as the president says, if you like your current insurance, you can keep it. let me give you a very interesting sidebar. @@@@@@@ @ ,m,@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ e >> my wife goes, you know you'll have to get your own insurance now. he said, what to you mean? she said, well, you're over 18, you out of school and the law will not allow us to keep you on your shorns, you got to get your own. you could see the look in his eye like -- why? how much does that consist? and then all of a sudden that reality began to set in. it'll set in for all of you that there will come a point where those 19 years of education end and you're out there doing your thing. now you have to take responsibility if providing yourself with health care and i know a lot say i don't need it. and some 10 to 12 million, 20-something-year-olds are outside of the system. that's part of the 47 million you hear about, because they don't think that -- that that is part of they need to do. now you have that chris. the party's position is -- >> everyone in the room to have good health care. i agree. >> no one should go through it. 20,000 deaths a year. >> and is this the best health care an individual can have is losing her house. >> how about the fire department. >> we're asking you to honor the procedure we here. everybody had an opportunity to submit their questions. we'll respect the charle as he answers the questions. >> i think, again, you know, i -- look, i understand i understand that there's a difference of opinion. and -- i think the stakes are high. this is part of the discussion and the problem with the discussion is that when you close your ears off and you're not prepared to listen you don't learn. whether you agree or disagree. now what -- what those two dissent that don't understand is fundamentally i agree, everyone in the country needs health care. everyone in the country should not be left by that roadside. and while you have a personal story so do i. but you don't know that. and i don't need to shout it to you for you to understand. what you need to understand, and engage and get serious, you can shout and have people ignore you or you can ignore and have them pay attention and learn from you. because you present something that they play not know. they play not appreciate and they play never have heard before. so when people go to town halls and out to the community and they're like this, it makes for great tv. you'll probably make it tonight. enjoy it. but -- but -- but, you you, is not -- you have not, you have not furthered the debate. and this is what institutions of higher learning are all about. they're about furthering the debate. engaging in ideas. and i play disagree with you all day long, but i respect your ability to stand up and engage me to what? teach me. something i play not know. so with that in mind, let me answer the question. the answer is very simply this, the problem that republican leadership has with the public option, number one, it is not very clearly defined exactly what it will look like and what it means. so number one, let's throw on the table exactly what this public option means. number two, the problem with the public option is that for small business owners, think about it this way. and i have had this conversation with a major company in this country that -- that said very clearly, if there is a public option, why -- why would i carry the cost of providing the health care for my 30,000 employees. if the government is presenting an option in which they can get it from them. and i don't have to carry that cost? it is cheaper for me to pay the 8:.5% penalty than to have -- to carry the health care cos for 30,000. the same is true for small employer of 300, for small employer of three. and the concern, unless you put in the language, the trigger that will prevent businesses from off hooding people into a system -- you created a back door and -- for a single payer system. they're notting for to carry that cost. you wouldn't carry has cost, would you? i mean, if you have the difference between what you pay, what your employees pay for their health care and in your company and what you pay as the employer, that difference, if the government says -- we now have that, would you pay it in would you pay it if it was $100,000 a year additional to the bottom line. would you pay the $100 million additional to your bottom line. that's part of the debate. we can discuss the intricacies and back and forth on that but that's part of the debate. getting clarification. understanding the personal stories that have involved but recognizing that those personal stories can be impacted in a negative way as well. because it is not just about getting universal health care. it is not -- it is about what it looks like and what it does, and what choices you will or will not have if the government like insurance companies right now, and have you tried it call an insurance company and have them act on a claim. imagine if it is the federal government and the brewer crows that they set up. so, that is one aspect of it. the other aspect of t we don't know who pays. who pays? jew going to pay. how much you going to pay? how much you willing to pay? you going to pay? you don't have a choice. i'm a student. that's the other part of the equation. how much who pays? and that is -- that is an aspect of it we got to debate as well. yes, ma'am. >> it is not -- nothing that the government has ever done is deficit neutral. do not believe that lie. do not believe that lie. name me one program that the federal government has run that has been deficit-neutral. how much in at the time -- amtrak is how much in debt? government-run. and post office is how much in debt, government run. and even the president himself has admitted that particular problem. so don't believe that anything this government does, not just barack obama's administration, george bush's administration, jimmy carter's administration, don't believe anything the government ever does is deficit neutral. why? because -- because in year two, when members of congress have been visited by their special interests and by those who have something at stake, they change the parameters. they change their rules. they add a little something here and they add a little something there. and all of a sudden you're spending money on programs that you were told were deficit neutral. and unless you put the check in place, in the legislation, that actually honest that, it is not going to happen. >> yes. >> this will be our last question. terrence williams asks, with the current state of the economy, business and the battles -- in legislation going on in capitol hill, do you think we as young college students will inherit this mill climate and should we be optimistic about our future. [inaudible] is not easy. i want >> despite the difficulties and struggles, whether from health care or on the environment or whether on energy, what ever the issue is, whatever the issue is, i believe at the enof the day that you, americans, are going to make the difference. >> it is on? >> it is on. hear me. i got a big mouth. that you're going to make that difference. that you have a chance to engage on the debate in a way that helps 145eu7 the outcome. so regardless of the depire predictions of inflation and this and that, whatever, you have a chance to help engage in the way that changes the outcome. if you want to. you have an opportunity and that's why i wanted to come here to shape this debate, whether again, it is on health care or anything else, if you want to. and not just react. but to take command and lay out a different perspective. someone is going to disagree with you, right? that happens. but others play still agree with you and work with you. however it comes aabout, recognize you have an opportunity to make a difference. if i never believed that, i would not be standing here. i would not have been lieutenant governor. and i would not have had my own business. i would not have gone to john hop kin's, i would not have gone to georgetown law school. because someone told me the glass was half empty. that's the difference here. i think that -- that the future is bright. because you're exprog to be a part of it, because you're going to have something to say about it and you're going to have something to bring to the table that is of value to me, my kids, and the country. that's what last year was about. that is why you engaged the way you did. yeah, i would love-to-you all vote for john mccain and the republican party, but we didn't -- we didn't earn your vote. we didn't earn your support. we didn't earn your trust in our here. and now we have to. your vote for you for the benefit of the country. that's how em poired you are and changed this debate. the nature and course of politician in this country already. and if you don't take anything away from this moment, take that. that the glass is half full and it is half full because you know tomorrow is going to be better, regardless of what anyone else says. i am proud to be here at howard university. because like a lot of hbc users in the country, you don't get the recognition and the kudoh, you don't get the glamour, you don't get the bank of televisions and cameras coming up here and seeing exactly how you learn. and how you change. and how you make a difference. when they're cutting funding to h.p.c. and when they're cutting funding for opportunities for scholarships and they're cutting the very dollars that it is going to take for you you to matric hate to this institution and go out the doors with a degree, you persevere, you find a way. and you make it work. because it is important for you to a part -- of this political landscape, and of this economic landscape, and -- of the american landscape. and don't let anyone -- democrat or republican tell you otherwise. thank you. ,7 [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captions performed by the national captioning institute] thank you so much, dr. ross and i also like to thank secretary duncan and dr. wilson for inviting me here to share thoughts with all of you. it is a privilege and a pleasure to be here. more importantly, it is an honor for me because -- because several reasons, number one, your mission which in many ways reflects the spirit of our democracy. because of -- of the work that you have done to promote equal educational opportunities. and a mission that goes to the heart of what america is all about. and because of my own history, which in many ways tracks with your struggle. for -- for equal opportunity for all. work at the white house initiative on historically black colleges and universities, i think is in the finest tradition. of what our nation is all about. and it is about helping americans realize the dream of giving our children a better life. and above all, that means access to higher education. higher education is the key to being able to achieve that better life. and i know this from my own experience. as was mentioned in the introduction, i'm the son of italian immigrants. and my brother and i were the first in our family to go to college. and to university. as the son of immigrants, the values that i just talked about in terms of achieving that better life, are what i was, what i believed in and what my parents made sure that we understood. was the reason that we were -- to be educated. and to learn, be able to achieve that opportunity that this country is all about. i remember asking my father, why -- why would you travel more than 3,000 miles to a strange land, no money, no speaking ability, and very few skills. yes, they lived in a poor area of italy. but at least they had the comfort of family. why would you leave that? to come to a strange country. and travel all of those miles. my father said the reason we did it is because your mother and i believed we could give our children a better life. and i believe, giving our children a better life is the american dream. it is what this country is all about. and -- in line with that, is the importance of recognizing that as we give our children a better life, they have a responsibility to give something back to this country as well. my parents also constantly emphasized the importance of giving back to this country, some measure of duty and responsibility in return for the opportunity that my parents got. in order to be able to achieve some degree of equal opportunity. and so public service has been part of my -- my bloodstream if a long time. you heard my resume beginning from -- from being an intelligence officer in the army, through being chief of staff to the president of the united states and now as director of the central intelligence eeg. all of that public service has been because i truly believe that it is important to give something back to this country. that gaveb my parents and my brother and i, the opportunity to succeed. and in many ways as i said, my career tracks the struggle that you have been involved in. and in achieving equal education. and -- and early in the 1970's, as mentioned in the resume, i served as director of the u.s. office for civil rights. and our responsibility was to promote equal educational opportunity. and to all of our children. and the primary responsibility we had at that time was to basically break down the dual school system and desegregate schools that had by law biondi vided between black and white children. and to try to insure that school districts were complying with brown versus board of education. and with civil rights laws. and having worked on civil rights laws when i was a legislative assistant in the congress, i believe that it was my responsibility in that job to enforce the law. and to enforce the constitution. and when duty to the law conflicted "politician of the time, i decided that duty was more important and i have never regretted that decision. in the 1980's when i returned as a member of congress, and chair of the budget committee, i had the opportunity to work on funding for black colleges and universities, work with bill gray, work with members of the black caucus. to insure that we would be able to provide funding. and in the 1990's, i was honored to be a part of the white house initiative on historically black colleges and universities. early in his term, president clinton signed an executive order that assigned o.m.b., the office of management and budget with oversight of the initiatives annual federal plan for assistance. and as o.m.b. director at the time and later as white house chief of staff, i was prudent to play a role in helping to strengthen -- your great schools. for 130 years, you have been an invaluable asset for african-americans, and an irreplaceable source of talent and energy for america. as different communities have become part of our social fabric, our country has become even stronger. with the dynamic vitality that nobody else can match. diversity, along with freedom, and the rule of law. is at the heart of what makes america great. as c.i.a. director, i can tell you there's probably no other organization that stands to benefit as much from diversity, recruiting and developing a diverse work force, is crucial to the c.i.a. for several reasons. >> first, this nation was founded on the principle that we are all created equal. it is -- it is the fundamental principle that says -- america is going to insure that -- that all of us, regardless of our race, regardless of our sexual orientation, regardless of whether we're disabled, regardless of what god we believe in, will have the opportunity to succeed. citizens want to serve his or her country in the field of intelligence, it is wrong. to let those kinds of issues stand in the way. of success. the other reason is equally important. because very frankly, diversity helps us do a better job of keeping this country safe. good intelligence requires officers from diverse prounds who have different approaches, to the issues that we face who bring a wide array of skills to our mission and are products of the cultures in which we have to operate. i like to underscore how important diversity is to the c.i.a. by talking a little bit about our mission. our first responsibility at the c.i.a. so to protect the safety of this nation. today and tomorrow. we are a nation at war. we're confronting a war in afghanistan, a war in iraq, and we're confronting al qaeda. and -- other terrorists. in pakistan. who threaten our homeland, and threaten our troops. we're confronting the challenge of -- nuclear proliferation. n-in countries like noort korea and iran. we're confronting a whole new challenge of something called cyber security. which has the potential to in fact, bring down our markets, bring down our power grid system, bring down our water systems. and cripple this country. and we're confronting the challenge of instability, instability in the middle east and africa and in latin america. and south east asia and places like yemen and somalia. the c.i.a. has to be an intelligence organization that understands what our adversaries are thinking. what are they doing? what are their secrets? what are their strategies? what do they intend to do that will hurt us? and that will hurt our goal of seeking peace in the world? we have to understand those dangers, those opportunities, as america faces a world that cannot fronts a number of challenges to our safety. this is not about the past. this is about -- about the present, and the future. when president obama offered me this job, he told me to call -- call them the way i see them. and i told him that i will tell the truth. and oftentimes, i will tell him things -- [applause] oftentimes i will have to team him things he would not like to hear. but as director of c.i.a., my responsibility is to present him the very best intelligence that we have. not because it is politically right, not because it is what he wants to hear, but because it is the truth. so when i emphasize with every c.i.a. officer is that our responsibility to the president, to the leaders of this country, is nothing less than bringing the truth. our mission requires high my skilled people. from many different fields, from many different disciplines. the work of all of these officers who work at the c.i.a., case officers, analysts, and people wo work in science and technology, people that provide the support for our mission. it goes to the core of what we do. as an agency. these are people, i have to tell you, who put their lives on the line every day. i wish i could take all of you to our stations throughout the world, so that you could see the work of our case officers on a daily basis. men and women some in our national clandestine service who are out there trying to see if we could get people to spy for the united states. to determine what is going on in other countries, what are they thinking? what are our enemies thinking? to try to develop it, checks of intelligence. so that we know what is happening. that are engaged in operations some of those operations are -- are incredible. and in what they to to save lives. our analysts, people who with who take that intelligence and trito determine what does it mean? and who write finished reports and try to say to the president and leaders in this country what, why is this intelligence important? what does it mean? in terms of our security. they're subject experts and inquisitive by nature and they're well versed in the analytics trade craft. and that is the kind of intelligence that goes to the president, and to the leaders in this country every day. that's what our job is all about. and the best intelligence, best intelligence comes from officers who can operate creditably and effectively in -- in just about any society in the globe. that means, that they to understand those societies. they have to speak their language. they got to be able to know what their cultures are all about. they have to be able to know what makes people tick. this these countrys to understand them. otherwise, intelligence doesn't mean much. so a lot of this is about getting officers when understand the countries that they have to engage in. spell jeps, to be effective, we have to reflect the face of the world that we're responsible for. and so it is for that reason, that we reach out and seek out a diverse work force. that's why i'm committed to making the c.i.a. look more like this nation that we protect look more like the world that we protect, so that we can operate effectively to help protect the country. our goal. >> [applause] our goal, my goal, and it is our goal, is to substantially increase the diversity of our work force in the next few years and the position that the c.i.a. is -- we're seeking is to be recognized as one of the top 10 diversity employers if this town. that's our goal and that's what we intend to achieve. by its very nature, diversity encompasses many dimensions, ethnicity, cultural, educational, and religious. and racial. behavioral. sometimes not easy to quantify. but one element which is minority representation is the one area that we would like to see our work force closely approach the level of the population that we have in this country. c.i.a. needs to reflect the face of this country. and that's what -- my goal is as director of the c.i.a. a fine recruiting effort has already begun to do that. the c.i.a. is i think viewed as a great place to work, a challenging place to work. we get more than 140,000 applications. at the c.i.a., almost 400 a day. if there's a new james bond movie that comes out, we get even more applications. as a result of that. our attention, our attention -- our retention rate, rather, is one of the best in government. right now, a new officers who come in, we lose less than 1%. so we have got a great retention rate. almost one-third of our new hires this year are minorities. and that's good. but we can do even better. we want to significantly increase the hiring of minorities in collection and analysis, and -- their inclusion in student intern programs as well. we aim it expand national origin hiring, first and second generation americans. and substantially boost the number of new officer the with foreign languages. and above all, we're widening our recruitment pool by going to more places, that offer a rich variety of talented candidates. historically black colleges and universitys are an important part of that effort. we already started recruitment efforts at 17 of your schools this semester. we're conducting interviews, classroom presentations, and faculty meetings. we enjoy working relationships with many of the career offices. and will reach out to more of your schools in this coming year. our officers also participate in the intelligence community centers for academic ex-lens, the innovative program that was led by dr. len center radepant. we're proud to be part of a nrble urban league's black executive exchange program which does an excellent job of cultivating future leaders in government and industry. i have to tell you more than just a diverse work force, this is a tougher challenge, we got to have a differs leadership as well. and my agency. [applause] my agency seeks to give all of our officers, obviously the training and development they need in order to thrive in their work. we need to make sure that in every case accomplishment earns a seat at the table of leadership at the agency. by any measure, we don't have enough diversity in our senior grades. and bringing executives from the outside of the intelligence community is is not easy. and -- in the profession of the c.i.a. that's why we need to develop our junior and mid level officers. so that they can achieve those leadership positions. achieving greater diversity in senior leadership means giving up and coming officers what they need to earn. what they need to learn in order to be at that table. of responsibility. the bottom line is we're putting the c.i.a. on a track it better represent the best and the brightest from all of the communities that contribute to america's greatness. it is good for all of us and it is good for the nation that we serve. this month, marks eight years since the attacks of september 11th. all of us must remember the lesson of 9/11. that we must to everything possible to make sure that that never happens again. to this country. it is the tireless work of thousands of men and women in the military and law enforcement and in intelligence. that is essential to our nation's security. president obama gave me the high honor of working with some of the most capable and gifted people that i have known in -- in over 40 years of public service in this town. these are people who frankly don't pay a lot of attention to the noise in this town. but do pay a lot of attention to what their heart tells them about commitment to service. and more than half of c.i.a.'s work force has come aboard, since 9/11. and the energy and spirit they bring to the job is amazing. and my goal is to begin a new chapter for the c.i.a. in the 21st century. that provides the intest intelligence possible, with a profingsal and diverse work force that reflects the face of the world and abides by the highest values. of our nation. ultimately protecting america is not just the work of the c.i.a., it is the work of all americans. it is the responsibility of all of us. it fight for a better nation. and to fight for a more secure nation. there's a story i often tell that makes -- a pretty good point. of the rabby and the priest that decided they would get to know each other a little better. they thought if they went to events together, they could learn about each other's religion. and so one evening they went to a boxing match and just before the bell range, one of the boxers made the sign of the cross. and the rabbi nudged the priest and said, what does that mean? >> the priest said it doesn't mean a dam thing if he can't fight. [laughter] now, frankly we bless ourselves with the hope that everything is going to be fine in this country. but frankly, it doesn't mean a dam thing. unless we're willing to fight for it. i know that you are willing to fight for a better life and for a better nation and i love forward to working with all of you in being able to make sure that that american dream will -- we all care about is reel if all of our children. thank you so much. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captions performed by the national captioning institute] >> thank you for those inspiring words. we thank you for your service -- and the men and women of the c.i.a. and our military and we thank all of us in being vigilant because the most important thing we can do is protect our country. thank you, sir. >> now we have some remarks from -- from dr. johnny houston, the senior research professor and director of african-american studies program at elizabeth city state university. [applause] >> director panetta has to leave, but i wanted to give him this award before he leaves. i just want to say very quickly that -- that -- that we hear a lot of presentations and -- very rarely is it that the -- the person, the human being comes through aside the presentation. we understand him as man now. and we trust the sen seart, the sincerity and the authenticity that came through and we believe that he intends to do what he says he's going to do. that's a good thing. we celebrate that. all right. second thing, i want to say is that this is the hbc community and like you we generate intelligence all right? we pursue truth. so we have some things in common. and then thirdly, because of -- something that you mentioned, i want you to know that we can help you in a very special way. my -- my, one of our most prominent h.b.c. alusms, my classinate and good friend spike lee is about to shoot a film called "inside man." some of you have seen the first one, this will be the second one. he could easily put a black james bond character in that and help you recruit for the c.i.a. i'm going to call him and let him know he can do that. here's an award for all you do and you've done. leon panetta. >> thank you. >> thank you. [applause] >> he has to leave. we thank you again. let's give him another hand as they heave. now we have final remarks. as the debate over health care continues, c-span's health care hub is a key resource. go online and follow the tweets and video ad and links. share your thoughts on the issue with your own citizen video. including any video from any town halls you've gone to. there's more at c-span .org/health care. . . . . . . . [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> uncoupled local examples, in this program that we call the -- a couple of local examples, in this program we call the help the homeless program. we had an assessment of the community, and we involved the youth in the subsequent stages of this project, to create neighborhood grocery stores, and the youth at a local middle school were actually involved in the discussion and the planning and they chose the name of the project, healthy in a hurry corner store. that is the youth being involved. we have been working with the voice project, with some funding to engage the youth in doing the assessments and going out with a camera, and taking a look at their community as it relates to the healthy opportunities both for physical activity and would -- and then take -- and food intake, and that is through the local government. that is one of the local examples. >> the report also recommends a good place for communities to start is to do the community assessment and really look at where the grocery store is and the fast-food restaurants, and by trails. community assessment is a great way to involve the youth. >> i would like to build on what she just said. in this project, a couple of the sites have the youth doing these assessments in the stores that they knew their cohorts were shopping at, and they were looking at the opportunities. they saw all of the healthy choices were out of reach, and the unhealthy choices were at a high level, and they worked in -- they work with a store to create smaller packaging, so there was an advantage even though there was much less of that, that is what we wanted. there are a lot of great examples that we ran across, and a lot that we did not have a chance to review. but people can look at some of the examples that were provided, to match up with the other local governments are doing against that and see the common threads. >> one of the important elements is that this can allow the local community to take a look at what is important, and they will look at the elements that need to be in place. this should be a neighborhood element, and even if -- if you do not go through this specifically, you can outline the elements that are necessary and i think that is equally valuable in this way. >> we have heard the saying that in one community, you have been to one community and you have to know the community and to to involved in the process. we have a tremendous problem in rural america, with obesity. we have high rates of childhood obesity, and we have low resources. bringing in the community at all levels would make a lot of sense, giving them a place at the table, to institutionalize the youth in the process -- i apologize that i did not introduce myself. i am from three falls, montana. >> doctor? >> offering healthy choices of food and providing facilities for physical activity are only the first of its, they did not make children choose healthy food. you have to go beyond that and find out why children choose the unhealthy food. there are a lot of factors for this. you have to motivate them and change their behavior. unless they change their behavior. why do they love to be in front of the computer? these are the behaviors that you have to address, without those changes you cannot reduce obesity. >> this committee completely concurs, and you will see that two of these strategies have to do with awareness, and the information campaigns, to help change that behavior. i think that we would concur. >> the behavior issue that i think needs to be addressed as an elected official, and we have spoken about this, is making this conversation something that the elected leaders want to have. we go from door to door, putting up signs and we kissed babies and say your children are fat. this does not work, in the sense that i want to get your vote. how do i talk about this issue? i am happy to be involved with this group, because we have produced a report that community leaders can look and say, how can i engage my community in this conversation without putting them off, without making it sound like i am the big brother, and they have a problem. how can i inspire my community? there is a strategy for people to struggle with this question. the elected leadership, the public health officers, the people who know that we have to start engaging in this conversation about we have not had the practice identified, we have not had this at the local level. this is about giving the leaders away to engage with communities, and it is important to remember, the ability for the communities to look at the report. we had the chance to ask the community leaders, what are you doing now that we know these practices. what is the report card for these communities, how we are trying to stem the tide of childhood obesity. from the work in schools, if you really do have a healthy food and reduce the access to the healthy food, the children eat them. -- if you increase the access, the children will lead them. we recommend that there be strong nutrition -- nutrition standards, and we also know that the youth gardens increase the preference for fruits and vegetables, and that if the food is prepared tasty and healthy, the children will lead them. >> i would like to particularly -- particularly talk about the idea that there is so much more going into a choice other than motivation. this is one part of it, one of the studies looked at packaging vegetables, with a popular fast- food chain packaging, and the broccoli was said to have tasted better to the kids. the issue of advertising and who will model the behavior, the padres have been doing something with a label the health the options with a particular image and they do the exercise breaks, and the held the auction, when they sell the vegetarian hot dog at the same $1 price as the regular hot dog, has been increasing the sales at the same level. we sometimes oversell the idea of how much the individual motivation is a part of this, and how much the local decisionmakers can support the personal responsibility. this is what the report is trying to do. we believe that people -- many people know that they need to make these changes. >> as a local leader, i have to ask myself, why is the child not leaving the home. there is the incentive for them to take a while -- and if you look -- i like to refer to the consequential policy failure. this is a lack of leadership and realization. when you have failed policies about open space and transportation, we have liquor stores and fast-food restaurants and -- in those neighborhoods that are susceptible to obesity, that is the consequence. there is no magic bullet. we're asking the officials to look in the mayor, because we create the environment and this is about changing the mindset, not just for the child but the leaders that have these policies. i try to bring that approach to this. when i go home, this is in my mind said. this is not going to be advertising or promotion, all of the policies are connected and they have a consequence, they have social and health consequences, and we are starting to turn this around. >> from the social marketing standpoint, the industries are promoting the same exercise as a quality of life. this is something that we need to learn from. that is why we talk about the social marketing. we do not care if a kid is going out to exercise. if they are doing this because this is fun to engage their friends, whatever the reasons are that drive human behavior, we're happy to go with that. >> a quick comment about the culture change, as part of the effort. we're in a culture that has fast food and instead ratification and lack of physical activity. we have to find a way to turn this around. every society has to be involved in cultural change. this report talks about love local government can do. there is business and small business, civil rights organizations and social justice, all of them are involved in changing the culture. >> you have a full house on that question, and i will say that the reason to some -- the way to summarize these comments, and the way that we feel the report is trying to say, to repeat the words, we want for the healthy choice to be the easy choice, and sometimes it is important to the cognitive about the behavior that you are engaged in. too much of what we do is just automatic, it is not necessarily the most healthy automatic thing to do. some of the steps make the default the automatic choice, the healthy choice. we think that this is a good thing for the healthy children in our community. >> i am on the faculty at morgan state university. i see many of my colleagues at the table and i want to applaud the wonderful work that has been done on this report that encompasses some much of what i believe in. i want to talk about two things mentioned earlier. the first is the use of engagement. it is unfortunate that we did not model this as having a seat on the committee. it would have been great to have a young person as part of the committee. in the riding of the report, if this could structurally have been given and perhaps there is the opportunity for this, to the places where there can be and there should be used engagement at the policy level. in baltimore we have the youth involved in policy development at many of the high schools. and these are astute young people in terms of the policy and the government and that is not represented as it could have been. with a report of this matter and what we hope will be the outcome. one thing i wanted to build on was the strategy, the first that is to maintain the parts. in the study that we were working on in baltimore, the unfortunate thing was that we had physical facilities, and a wonderful program of activities for those facilities. what we did not have is the support of the local government for the staff and the funding and this was brought up earlier. i think that we have to figure out a way to empower the legislators in the most at risk communities, to actually get those funds. i was very high rate, when i found about that they were listing all of these wonderful activities that i thought my clients to attend. and there was no staff that was there to implement those activities. can you speak to that? >> i will not save very much. it is important, in the spirit of engagement, with respect to the comment about youth and the criticism that we have taken -- we will take that back to the standing committee. we did have a presentation that was done by a group of youth to be standing committee on childhood obesity. i will say that this point is well taken. i think that this speaks to the importance of continuing to be engaged and holding people accountable for those things that they should be held accountable for, and working as a community and we think that this report is doing that. this is an issue that affects some people more than others, everyone should be concerned and there should be a broad approach to achieving the health equity, isolating the neighborhoods and not paying attention to what is going on is not consistent with what we think is the those of health equity that we wanted to bring about. >> just for today, he has said that the definition of the youth is 65 and under so we are covered. >> one other thing, someone broke this up earlier. there are a lot of existing resources and one thing that we tried to do is to talk about how we can build more physical activity into what we are already doing. if we could start there, we can build the will to get this done in other places. the local government leaders may say that they will not participate anyway. you demonstrate the kind of demand that you are well aware of. people can see the faces and bodies and the participation and this helps a lot. >> you have made a convincing case for the need for a wide variety of shareholders and stakeholders, and the actions that you are proposing. there has been a mission since -- since we have been in washington that is conspicuous. can i ask you what you would like the federal government to do, to assist you in the efforts that he was proposing? >> this is eduardo. i have neglected to say this a number of times. i did a disclaimer awhile ago. your question is a good question. the charge was to come up with recommendations for the local government. we realize that some of the ability to effect change at the local level can be facilitated, and supported and helped by the actions at the state level and the government level and the federal level. as part of the -- as part of the release of this report, we had a couple of briefings, on the hill, to talk about federal legislation, proposed or otherwise that can play a role. we feel that there are some things that could happen at the federal level with the policy and the funding, that would make these action steps, easier to realize that may otherwise. the question of cost is coming up, some of this will be addressed by some of the things that have been discussed at a federal level. because this was directed at an audience of local government officials, the report is for them. the question is how we make this report more successful at the local level and we have thought about that in terms of the forward strategy. >> one of the most important elements about what the fed can do for us is to embrace the methodology of public health and prevention, which is what this is about and recognize the nature of public health. this is social and economic well-being, not just reaction to disease or infirmity. that understanding will support all of the things that we are talking about at the local level, because the importance and the prevention would be most important. >> i have one thing to say about the role of the federal government. in the western land and the public land, the federal government has a lot of employees, community members, and agencies that have a role to play in getting involved in getting the country more active. i would encourage the community leaders, to bring the community together, and bring the federal partners together. we have had success with a program that the schools put together so that every fifth grader in the school system has a day where they learn environmental education and we have been able to prepare the needs of the school system and the education with the needs of the forest service to get more people out on the public land, to have more activity for the children. this is a stealth obesity project because nobody knows that we are doing this for the health of the children. they are having fun and we are working in partnership with the federal agency. i would encourage the communities with a heavy presence of military or land agencies, to involve the officers of those agencies in this community discussion. >> i think one more thing to say is the basis -- this comes from tw of federal agencies. the foundation -- we are running out of time. i will take one more question, one more question and then we will conclude this session. >> i am the chief of health in the district of columbia, with the department of health. one challenge is that i get phone calls from the providers in the community, and once this is identified in the practice, there is no incentive to medicate or to engage these families in any kind of program. so the providers say that they diagnose the problem, and hope that the parents do something to bring about change. this is a very healthy discussion because this is a discussion that happens -- if you can help us answer this question through medicaid reimbursement or some other kind of reimbursement to provide an incentive to develop some kind of program for change for the children -- we will like that for these practices. >> that is an interesting question. the scope of the committee was looking at the things that the local governments can do. the question is what role they can play. and certainly, treating or diagnosing is one aspect. yours is a good question for exploration and there are published works out there about what is happening in terms of the clinical treatment. but getting back to the report, i would challenge anyone who says that there is nothing that i can do. we're looking at what some of these action steps are and engage in the conversation with the parents about what in your community may enable healthier eating, what are some of the barriers and how can i outside of the normal relationship, think about how we engage the local government officials to address some of these issues. by the time the child is diagnosed, you could argue that you have missed some opportunities to make a difference, and physicians should be involved in the conversation, to find out what is going on in the community and what actions the local government should take for these people live provide care for. i will let other -- others answer the question. the clinical side of childhood obesity, is for another committee, and another report. does anyone have anything tad. i hate to close on that note except, the promises that there is more to come, not necessarily on that, but from the standing committee. i think all of you for being here and i want to -- i want to express my gratitude to this unbelievable panel, they make the work of anyone very easy to do. you can see that they are experts, and people who helped put this together along with a handful of others who are not here. and the staff is helping us look even smarter than we really are. we appreciate your efforts and thank you for participating. please go forth and make a difference, and put this report in the hands of those who may engage the local government officials, and start to make a difference in the lives of those children. thank you very much. >> next, remarks from the national intelligence director and the cia director, and on order washington journal we will continue discussing the nation's health-care system from the va hospital center. washington journal begins at 7:00 eastern. later this morning, a look at the supreme court case involving "hillary: the movie." this was made by conservative nonprofit organization. the court will hear the case later this month. the ruling could impact the ability of corporations to spend money on political campaigns. live coverage from the american constitution society begins on c-span2. and now, an event with dennis blair, speaking on the historically black colleges organized by the education department. and then we will hear from leon panetta. this is about 90 minutes. >> they have been very supportive in supporting the centers of economic eloquence. residents and guests, it is a pleasure for me to give the opening comments. i would like for the managers to stand and be recognized for their many contributions. [applause] thank you so much. our academic at -- is widespread across the enterprise. the program planning started back in november 2003. this was at trinity university as a scholar in residence, i met with all of the agency heads and skilled managers to have the program as they saw fit. by fall of 2004, we had the first test school, for the centers of academic excellence. this was trinity university. i am happy to note that we have the first primary investigator, who is with us here today. please stand. we started with one school, and we added three more, and this year, 2009, 2010, we have 20 institutions across the country. this is because the leadership of the directors of national intelligence, in the past and present, including director blair. i could not get this job done without the help of a lot of people, i would like to give special thanks right now to ronald sanders, who is the chief human capital officer of the intelligence community. his leadership and his sponsorship have been invaluable and we want to thank you. i would like to give thanks to the intelligence agency and you are probably asking, why them? they make sure that the schools get their money. he is here today from the nash -- from nca. the mission is about strengthening the capacity and the excellence in education. that is exactly what the intelligence community programs are intending to do with the outreach programs. the intelligence community, they embody the spirit of the executive order, especially sections 4 and 7, because those sections of the executive order are dealing with educational enrichment, studying abroad and employment opportunities. university officials are the real champions in this equation to build the talent of america for the future. your actions are a testament to the inspiring service throughout the country. the intelligence community does -- is working very purposefully. the 2009 national intelligence strategy signed in august of 2009 articulates six missions and seven enterprise objectives. to let you know how serious that he is, the enterprise objectives are about academic partnership, and building talent for the intelligence community needs. this is where i believe that they excel in helping america building the intellectual capital. the intelligence and the national security business are also about public service. the intelligence community people, they are very serious about their careers. some of you may have been teased on occasion. if we tell you what we do, we will have to shoot you. but seriously, together, the intelligence community is making a phenomenal team, when we align the efforts and as you know, there is no i in team, but let me leave you with three that we can all hang the hats on. influence, intellectual talent and inspiration. they have the power to influence national security, and develop competitive talent that the intelligence community can attract, recruit, and higher. and you'll keep america and the intelligence community, on the leading edge around the globe. you inspire students to exceed expectations in any endeavor. so continue to establish that incredible world-class legacy, and i will leave you with this as a final thought. when we were born, we did not know what we would find in this world. we were not responsible for how we found this. however, ladies and gentlemen, we are responsible for how we leave this. i challenge hsbc's to thrive because in my heart, yes you can. thank you. i am about to introduce the director of national intelligence. director dennis blair is the public servant at the highest level. he wears many hats and many responsibilities abroad. he was confirmed by the senate on 28 of january, 2009. the director did not waste any time taking charge because the next day he walked into his office as the head of the intelligence community. many wonder what is the intelligence community. this is 16 national level agencies. this includes the central intelligence agency, the cia, the defense intelligence agency, and the national security agency, referred to as no such agency. the director also serves as the adviser to president obama and the national security council. he oversees and directs the national intelligence program and we all know that this means money. he graduated from the naval activity, and after 34 years of military service, he retired as a four-star admiral. during his public service career, he received many awards and commendations. this is something that he may not want me to share with you. as a skipper, during his early military career, the director was renowned, even famous, in naval circles, and you are wondering why. this gentleman attempted to water ski behind his destroyer. it is a pleasure and honor to present to you, director blair. >> thank you. the rest of the story is that i did not succeed in waterskiing. but, good afternoon to all of you. it is a pleasure to be here with all of you. thank you for inviting me, and being part of this. this is a wonderful honor and pleasure to be back again, on a podium. he did not tell you the whole story. we were candidates for this elective office at the naval academy, president of your class. i was a winner of a few, and he was the winner of a few, but i always felt at a disadvantage, because i am here to pay tribute to the historic black colleges, but we are also recruiting to get good people to come to the agency. we want you to open your eyes to those possibilities. let's look at this for a minute. the african american astronauts -- i am a white guy who is recruiting spies. i will have to do what we -- what we do have a tremendous disadvantage, i will use money a little bit later on in the program. [applause] but i am i do have to mention one other competitive aspect, between his organizations and my organizations. i was very proud a few weeks ago that in a survey that was taken around this town, that the intelligence community, many of which were mentioned -- they came in pretty well. we were the fourth best place to work in the federal government. but nasa was the third best place to work. so just wait until next year, we are gaining on you. this is a fantastic organization, that has done so much for this country. i am certain that he will take this on to new heights. and i look forward to this. i am speaking for the intelligence community, for those of us who want to make certain that when we operate in the world, we have a better appreciation about what is going on. in order to be successful, in what we are doing, we have to be reversed. if we are going to be effective at the things that we have to do, we have to have a workforce that understands and reflects the diversity of the world, and we have to understand this and pass this along. the people who look like me do not blend in very well in east africa. and they don't understand different parts of the world as well as the people who can understand this better. for us, the definition and the purpose of diversity are more broad than they are for many organizations. in addition to the categories that they require us to try, minorities and people with disabilities, we also have the employees with a wide background in order to be affective with it -- different ethnicities and different perspectives and ideas so we can do our job and we are a better force for this. we have a number of innovative programs, these are all aimed at increasing in building the diversity. these are all in the higher grade positions. this is the analysis and the collection and technology. we are not where we want to be but we are making progress every year. -- the african american population has increased to 11.5% over the last few years. the current representation was more than the civilian labor force, but we are not satisfied with this. we need to make this better because -- because this makes us a better agency, and a better community to do our jobs. and you are asking yourself, what could someone like me know about the experience of young african-americans and what they are facing in these job markets. i admit that i rely on the organizations that are here, for people with closer perspectives on this subjects and i would like to share a couple of stories that have given me inside over the years, into this subject and have made a big impact in my life. the first was related to growing up with the navy, i am -- i was stationed in hawaii, where there are more asians than caucasians, and this was in kindergarten and second grade when i was living out there, and i found out what it was like to fit in with the locals, and being a minority was an invaluable experience for young american kid and tell me appreciate the perspective of minorities, as i had children of my own, a son and daughter, it was certainly important for them to understand that perspective. and they were better people as a result. the time that i was living in japan, i understood what this was like to be part of a very small minority -- very small minority and in these experiences i was never subjected to the discrimination that has highlighted the experience of so many minorities, but i had the feeling of the -- the underlying situation of being different from everyone around you, how do you do the things up all of us have to do. the second thing that has made a major impact on my life, was the role that i was privileged to play in writing significant wrongs that were done to american minorities. during world war two, 1 million african-americans served in the armed forces, but not one of them received the nation's highest award for courage and bravery, the medal of honor. in 1992 a panel of historians were commissioned to study why this happened. the report concluded that there were significant reasons, caused by racist leaders in the army who discouraged junior officers and it listed men from being submitted from awards -- and this was in addition to the general segregation of the army announced that was in effect at the time. this report, in 1992 recommended the re-evaluation of the records, or particular soldiers to see what could be done. the army did this. it was those records that were truly amazing stories that i have the privilege of looking up when i was a director of the joint staff. this was a bittersweet privilege to be involved in this process, because of the fact that this courage and endurance had not been recognized but this was wheat that this was happening. justice was served, but it was 50 years later, and president when awarded medals of honor to the families of those who had earned them, and he presented one to vernon baker, the only one who was still living. and there was single -- there was also a review of the asian immigrants in world war two -- world war ii. quite simply, watching how long it had taken, watching the talent and the fortitude that had been expended for the country, and had not been recognized or take an advantage of, they made an impression on me and they made me realize that never again should the country neglect to recognize the service of all of those. that is especially true when it comes to recognizing those who go above and beyond the call of duty. in particular, we in the intelligence community cannot ignore or hold back individuals because they are male or female or because their parents were born in another country. we are as the verse as possible to understand people around the world and this is the right thing to do. this is making us more effective. in spite of all of the problems that we face, the day we can take pride in the way that we mentor the african-american employees, as well as all of the employees. we are aware of the increasing minority representation that is above 81% and the intelligence communities, they all have a place in government and we work with the african-american executives association. we have the best practices and the innovation for the different employee resource groups. these are the kind of efforts, we cannot stop -- we must see what they can do, and make certain that they are not held back by the unseen barriers. this brings us to today. we are proud of the intelligence community centers, under the remarkable leadership that has been there for many years and we are proud of the three historical black universities in the program. this is that tennessee state university and i am happy to announce -- you heard this your first, that for this academic year, we have added more schools, including miles college and birmingham. [applause] the polls are not close, we look forward to having even more partners in the future. keep coming at us and we will keep working on this. we are not restricted by ending -- any means, we're definitely on the campuses of the historically black colleges that are not in this program as well. we want for all of you, in your college and universities, to encourage your best graduates to come and think about us, and think about where they go in their professions. we have the extra bond the national security studies was established in 2004 and the emphasis is on building the long-term relations -- relationships, they want to design and reshape the discipline and the support, and the mission critical skills. they must develop competency, in the regional expertise, and the cultural awareness. they want to host this with awareness about the intelligence mission, the public service and the internship and the scholarship opportunities. and awareness about the mission, to demystify the intelligence. what we do should be more transparent to the american public. we do not have to shoot you. even if we cannot always share exactly how we do this, if we told you that, we would. the partners in the colleges and universities must make certain that they are doing what they are doing as a return on the investment, for the community and the nation. when schools reached these -- when schools reached these requirements, they will have funding and this will promote the criteria -- with many promotions and skills. we need the economists and the linguists, and other specialists. we need researchers and historians, the private security specialists. we need people who can work on sophisticated sensors and facial recognition technology, analysts who can make sense of the flood of information that we received every day. we need people who can give credit -- critical thought to other issues, leadership styles and the technological challenges, and we need great people who can go out on the streets, to recruit and develop and form collaborative relationships in hostile countries. if we do this program right, this is winning for the students themselves, and the intelligence community and for the country. over the past two academic years, we have helped the intelligence community reached 10,000 students, it -- enrolled in this program and a developer workshops with over 4000 high school students and their teachers, and they have selected over 600 scholars and the center of academic scholarships have made internships. those in the program of also travel to china and egypt, ghana, south africa and turkey. they say that this lightness the conversation but this -- i agree that with all of these assessments, the most important thing about this is this is fatal to prejudice. we must consider this a big part of the program. i would like to recognize the contributions, i would like to call up the members of the intelligence community centers of academic excellence programs. on behalf of the intelligence community i would like to thank each of you, and with a grant of $1,000,085 -- $1,000,850, nor for the university -- 100 -- $1,850,000, norfolk university. [applause] we can move over here where they can see us. >> i want to thank my colleagues who have done so much form -- were led by my friend and my colleague, there she is. [applause] >> i want to thank the white house for being behind norfolk state univ. but all of us. to my good friend -- to my other colleagues, my mentor, if i can find him. but most of all, i want to thank this lady. i use her and many people do not know this. i only met her a couple of years ago. after meeting her, i realize that she was a champion for the vision. and the averell -- he told me a vision without resources is an illusion. she made this happen and she was the champion. with her doing this, this will happen. [applause] >> second, with a grant for $1.5 million, president carlton brown. [applause] > i am not the president of e university, i am the vice- president of the student programs and -- on behalf of carlton brown, i would like to thank you for the support of the students, and will tell you that this means a lot to us. [applause] >> f