Asked earlier, do you think she could have imagined this day . And dr. Janetta cole said sure, she could imagine this day, but she would probably imagine it for someone else. But then dr. Black said, but she would claim it because she knew to claim it. So we really want to take a moment to just say how incredible it is that we are here to celebrate the fact that a woman whose parents were enslaved has replaced a confederate general in the National Statuary hall. [applause] you know, we all get so frustrated and think, oh my goodness, is there any progress ever to be made . And today gives us a sense of hope and a sense of promise. Included in this audience are the people who provide hope and promise. There are students from bassoon cookman from Bethune Cookman university. [applause] i see our sisters from the National Council of negro women. [applause] and i especially want to introduce to you the John Robert Lewis scholars who are here. They had just started. [applause] and they are determined to carry on the mission. We also have people from the fdr library, and today we are going to learn about the important relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt, and thank you very much for being partners. [applause] i am the president of the United States capital Historical Society. We were chartered by congress and charged with telling the story of the capital and the people who work in the capitol in a manner that inspires informed patriotism. No one better inspired informed patriotism then Mary Mcleod Bethune. We know that the nation that our founders created has never been perfect, but that the creed from which our values derive is that we hold these truths to be so evident that all men, and i would add women, are created. There are few who embody that work more than Mary Mcleod Bethune. Today we want to be especially grateful to nancy loman, who led the statuary hall board, which worked on raising the funds. Thank you so much. [applause] she will be with us at some point. And the artist who created the statue. [applause] let me just tell you about congress, if any of you all havent dealt with this before. They have these things called votes, so they keep taking them away from whatever they had planned to do. At some point during this day, we are going to hear from majority whip james clyburn, who in this whole operation, i am going to tell you, mr. Clyburn said yes to the statue, but i want everybody to remember that Mary Mcleod Bethune is from South Carolina. [applause] the other congressperson we hope will join us at some point is congresswoman kathy castor. Congresswoman kathy castor there is nancy loman. I just said nice things about you. Good time to wave. Come on up, young lady. We have a seat for you. Congresswoman kathy castor has been working on getting this statue for six years, so her staff has been involved in every detail. So we are going to hear from those two when they come. We are just going to work with that. Oh, there is congresswoman castor. Im saying nice things about you. Come up here. I am just telling people that we cant quite figure out who is here and who is not here. Congresswoman, come on up. As congresswoman castor comes up, i want you to know that this woman put the entire resources of her staff, all of her personal Political Capital into making this happen, and she has been involved in every detail, so this is a celebration of your work. Congresswoman. [applause] rep. Castor good afternoon, friends. Lets stand up and cheer on the fact that after Mary Mcleod Bethune is representing the state of florida and all people in the capitol today. [applause] hallelujah. And amen. You all are a sight for sore eyes. The capitol really just opened up to visitors because of the pandemic and the violent insurrection, where they traipsed the Confederate Flag through the rotunda and statuary hall where we unveiled the statue. What a beautiful answer it is to that fact. But thank you, James Campbell and sam holliday in the u. S. Capitol Historical Society for allowing us all to come together and celebrate this day and talk about dr. Bethune and her legacy. I am going to talk a little bit about the process of the statue so that you all know, and i know congressman clyburn will be here soon as well. But there is another connection between florida and the statue and South Carolina. How many are here if you are from the state of florida, stand up. Lets see you. I love it. [applause] right over here, former state representative ed lorraine, i would like you to remain standing. [applause] stay standing until i get to your pivotal moment, ok . Here is the connection. Jane, you were right. This has been a labor of love for mine for some time. I was sworn in in 2007. As you come into the congress and you hear about the statues that represent every state, you take School Groups and friends from home through the capitol, and they say who are floridas two statures here . Well, i say it is john gorey, inventor of air conditioning. [applause] and who is the other . It is this obscure confederate general who barely lived in the state of florida. He was the last confederate general to surrender to the union army, and he fled to mexico. I thought, oh no, no. Not the big, beautiful, diverse, dynamic state of florida. We deserve a Great American to represent us. But it was not until that horrendous, horrific shooting in mother emanuel ame in charleston, South Carolina that states and communities began to reexamine their symbols, their statues, that we finally saw an opportunity to go to the Florida Legislature and ask, because it has to come from a state to replace a statue. You cant do it as an act of congress. So we sent a letter. I led the florida delegation. We had a bipartisan letter from the florida delegation to the speaker of the house in florida and the Senate President area at that time, the speaker of the house was steve from brevard county. He tapped state representative edna rain from tampa to lead the effort and sponsor the bill to get this done. Is state senator Perry Thurston in the house . Well, on the senate side in florida, Perry Thurston, who many of you know, was our lead in the state senate. And it took a couple of sessions of the state legislature because they thought other great floridians could also be considered. Marjory Stoneman Douglas was considered. The founder of publix, george jenkins, was considered. Everybody loves publix, but all right. What they did is eventually they passed one bill that said lets go examine who the great floridians are. Then the department of state had a committee called the great floridians committee, and the Florida Council on arts and culture were involved. Is shandy shaughnessy here . She was in the unveiling today. She was critical in making this happen. But they did online survey, and thank you, wildcats, because you know about the online survey. [applause] in my good friend, the famous historian from tampa on womens history Doris Weatherford was involved. His doris here . There she is. Doris weatherford. [applause] doris helped organize historians from across the state of florida to weighin on this online survey. Here is the good news. Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune was by far and away number one choice for floridians in that online survey. You know who was number two . James weldon johnson. How about that . And then i think it fell way off after that, so it was very clear to the Florida Legislature at that time, it wouldve been very difficult for them to go back and do something different, and at that point, the legislature went ahead and passed the bill. It was signed by the governor, and the architect of the capitol begin the process. We will be over at the library of congress tonight because after the department of state did their selection of the great sculptor from Fort Lauderdale and italy, she got right to work and came here to the capitol, and we toured her around to look at all of the statues. By the way, did you all have a chance to look at some of the other statues today . What is one of the differences between the older gentlemen that they have . Did we notice they are a little grumpy, a little cranky . And here is dr. Bethune with this optimistic smile. That she captured in such a beautiful fashion. Dr. Sybil moses was the lead at the library of congress. How perfect is that that dr. Moses could lead us to the Promised Land of getting this sculpture and informing the work. She put out historical recordings and photographs. We went down to lincoln park where that beautiful statue by the National Council of new grow women, National Council of negro women worked so hard to do. She internalized it all and i know someone dr. Beth thune would appreciate, someone who knew how to write letters, new how to ask for contributions, knew how to rally Daytona Beach and ormond beach and the state of florida and the bit thune cookman Bethune Cookman archive took on the project along with bob lloyd. If you are an alumni, would you stand up . We want to see you. [cheers and applause] i think all of the hbcus came to our crowd today but you all where the foundation of funding the Statuary Fund project with Tyrone Powell and lawrence drake. Thank you for what you have done. This was a labor of love and i want to thank my partner, congressman jim clyburn who was there all the way to say, this is right. I really appreciated your words at the unveiling ceremony where you said because lets face it, we are in a moment of time they want to rewrite history. I appreciated that you said you cannot rewrite history and you shouldnt even try. [applause] and we are not going to. We are going to celebrate this great educator. Thank you, jim clyburn, for being an inspiration. Chairman, if you know her and youd see her somewhere you see her somewhere on the january 6 committee, she was helpful in keeping us on track. The curator and others were instrumental in the early days and helping her understand what it means to have a symbol of greatness in the United States capitol and statuary hall. Speaker pelosi as well. I love the idea that it is kind of a girl power moment, no offense, mr. Webb. To have a female artist, the female head of the Statuary Fund and a female speaker today, i think dr. Bethune would love that. But all of her staff, and jim and Ashley Wilson and to team caster and my chief of staff, you all may not know clay but he helped get this done there he is. [applause] he doesnt want to be pointed out. But i havent had an opportunity to say thank you to each and every one of those people who helped us along the way. Dr. Whitaker, thank you for being an inspiration to me. I cannot wait for folks to hear your thoughtful message about stability so needed in this world today. Thank you all very much for being a part of the celebration. Thank you, jane, and the u. S. Capitol Historical Society. God bless you all. [applause] now you know when we say she got it done. Congratulations. Mr. Clyburn. This is a person who you just dont dare interview because everybody has a story about mr. Clyburn. Everybody will tell you so i will just say, what did president obama say about you . There is one person who when he speaks the entire congress listens. So let me present to you majority whip james clyburn. [cheers and applause] mr. Clyburn thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very, very much. You talked about girl power. I want to thank florida, the state of florida for kickstarting something new. What we are doing today, someone i grew up with almost every day, my mother was a beautician. And Mary Mcleod Bethune as you know today, the group she was a part of, colored women and girls club, she thought was a bit docile. And she wanted a little more activism. And so she went out to create now the National Council of negro women. And to do so, she didnt go on to college campuses. She started out organizing beauticians. And my mom was so enamored with that, and she grew up believing the two greatest women in the world where Mary Mcleod Bethune and madam cj walker. And but for multiple myeloma, which took her away at the age of 55, when she passed away, she had two beauty shops and 18 operators. Because she was determined to be like Mary Mcleod Bethune and madam cj walker. So i grew up with this lady. The biggest picture you see in my whipped office is of Mary Mcleod Bethune. The image you see behind me usually when im doing tv from my whipped office, you see wb devoid is, mary mcleod bit thune Mary Mcleod Bethune and thurgood marshall. Theres a statue i have to explain sometimes called i am a man. Some of you may remember that statue grew out of a protest in memphis, tennessee that led to the death of Martin Luther king jr. I spend all of my time trying to do what i can to make sure that we preserve history. I dont want to whitewash history. I dont want to revise history. I want us to learn from history and do what said to us if we fail to learn the lessons of history you are bound to repeat them and you cannot learn history lessons by dealing in false representations of history. It has to be what it is. And so what the state of florida has done is kick started something because after they made this move, she is so proud of it, she talks about it all the time, stops me on the floor with an update. With this when the state of virginia decided it would not be outdone, the state of virginia voted to take the statue of robert e. Lee out of this building and put in Barbara Johns who at 15 years old, started a movement that led to what we now as brown versus board of education of topeka kansas. And then virginia started something in arkansas and those of us who are old enough to remember, little rock nine. Supervised by desi bates in arkansas is going to put the statue of desi bates here in this building. [applause] now ive got to start a movement. See if we can get an africanamerican man to join these africanamerican women. [laughter] but let me thank all of you, thank you so much. I know hes going to be introduced but i want to thank bill daley. We got to know each other when he was in the administration of bill clinton and when he became chief of staff, i dont know why he called me one day and asked would i sit down with him, i had no idea what he wanted. I went to his office and sat down. He didnt want anything. He just sat down to talk and started the relationship. And when we decided that on her way to washington, Mary Mcleod Bethune should stop in maysville, South Carolina, and they told me how much it would cost, i remember the conversations i had with bill daley and i said, i want to talk to you about something and wells fargo underwrote the cause to bring her back to maysville, South Carolina. [applause] and her greatniece is here somewhere. Where is she . Mary Mcleod Bethunes niece was at the unveiling. They did not know about this, probably running around this building trying to find her, this auditorium. But she is now the mayor of maysville, South Carolina. She and her husband are here. [laughter] [applause] this is the kind of thing that makes me enjoy history so much. I will close with this. I was asked a couple of days ago what it was like, because it was announced last week that the naacp highest award will be awarded next wednesday night to yours truly. [applause] thank you. About award was first given that award was first given in 1918 to Ernest Everett just, one of the Foundation Founders of omega scifi fraternity Psi Phi Fraternity and a native of South Carolina. When i was asked what did it feel like to be getting that award, i said, it feels like one of my founders Ernest Everett justin made cloud for made room for Mary Mcleod Bethune and most important getting that award that was given to her, thats what i feel like with this award. Thank you so much. [applause] mr. Clyburn, you are an inspiration. Day after day. You know, as they say, we have a word from our sponsor. We are here we couldnt be here if we didnt have someone who is willing to invest in this work. Bill daley has been the chief of staff to the president s, has been in the president s cabinet, has been on major boards, has been a big hotshot. And he at every moment has decided that hes going to use his power and his authority to invest inequality and to invest in making sure invest in equality and to invest in making sure we thank you for your support. Mr. Daley make you so much. We at wells fargo are honored to be participating with you and celebrating the life and legacy of this great person, this Great American, someone whose optimism, enthusiasm, courage, is unparalleled in our history. We are indeed, all 230,000 employees at wells fargo are honored to have been given this opportunity. Im sure i had something on my mind when the majority leader came to me but i must have forgot it because to wait some time and not ask for a favor is rare. I am not so good at my job. I want to thank everyone. Whether you are here with us in this auditorium or joining us via livestream, today promises to be in a lightning and enlightening introduction of Mary Mcleod Bethune and her contribution to america. Thank you again to Jane Campbell for her organizations contribution and partnership in this historic event. The other members of congress, guests, other people celebrating the life of a courageous woman and there are many in this room. Let me take a moment of personal privilege, a woman who has had an enormous impact in america, former secretary of labor Alexis Harmon is here today. Alexis hermon is here today, someone who has been a force in politics and business. Right to see you, madam secretary. Great to see you, madam secretary. As has been said often, dr. Bethune has a farreaching legacy in not only education but in community service. She elevated the value of education and service in our lives with her contribution. So many of them endure in the public and private sector. In honor of this legacy we have collaborated with the Historical Society and other key partners to develop Educational Resources to share her life story and classrooms across america. These lesson plans and resources will be available to schools and the general public through the historic societies we the people hub. This is an open access Civics Education resource portal for teachers, students, and those of us who consider ourselves lifelong learners. We thank you for inviting us to be part of this great event in celebration of this Great American. Jane, thank you. [applause] jane and now, we are going to get into the scholarly component. And to set the stage, we have a very distinguished guest. Sister president janetta cole. Come on. Jane [applause] and sister president has agreed to engage in a conversation with me that yall get to participate in so im going to sit down next to her because she growth and a family of people who knew dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune. I just have to say thank you to the brother whip. [applause] jane we do have an audience who is watching virtually. Sister president. Yes, sister president. Jane we are all family products of our family stories. How did your family know Mary Mcleod Bethune and what was your story with your grandfather, greatgrandfather . [applause] my great great my great grandfather was Abraham Lincoln lewis. [laughter] my great grandfather, the legendary dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune were very dear friends. My great grandfather started with six other black men, afroamerican Life Insurance company of florida in 1901. Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune who at one point in her life worked at the afro. But it goes deeper than that. I happen to have a copy of the letter written on march 12, 1947 when dr. Bethune said, my dear mr. Lewis as they formally referred to each other the board has unanimously voted to have you join our board. And he did. He is an active member of the board of Edward Waters College wrote my dear dr. Bethune, the board of trustees at Edward Waters College has unanimously invited you to join its board. The correspondence between his race woman and race man is breathtaking correspondence. They both so believed in their people. They both so believed in the rights of all people. Theres a second part to this story, sister president. It is this. It is a young girl, my sister known by some to be the beach lady, my sister and i would be put in the back of the car and driven to Daytona Beach, florida. If dr. Bethune was in her office, i would have the honor with my sister, of going into that office. I remember as a child just thinking, there cant be a more beautiful person then her. And look at how she wears a hat. So, yes, so close were al lewis and mary mcleod but thune it was she who Mary Mcleod Bethune it was she who did the youth. It was i who so admired dr. Bethune i thought, if one day i could just be like her. [applause] jane well, i will tell you, indeed, madam president , you are like her. [applause] so let me ask this question which is, how did her life influence you were a little girl. You looked at her hat but i dont think thats all you looked at. How did learning about her influence your career choice . But me share that when i was kneehigh to a dock twoway to a duck, i wanted to be a baby doctor but there were educators in my family like my mother who taught at Edward Waters College, registrar. I decided i am not maybe going to be like my mom or my greatgrandfather or my dad in the insurance business. Im going to be a baby doctor. And then in college i discovered something that i had to sound out because i have never seen this word before. Anthropology. I became one. But let me say this. In becoming an anthropologist, i knew that the most important thing i could do to teach this discipline about the similarities and the differences in the world people worlds people, the most important thing i could do would be to live out that belief. Thats where dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune comes in again. Because she believed in the depths of her soul that while we may look differently by race, we may love differently by sexual orientation, we may worship a supreme being with different language, we are all gods people. And so she just continues to reenter my life. Let me also say that also say this, sister president , in becoming an anthropologist, think that i had another floridian to look up to, zora neale hurston. And so the point i would make is very simply this. Is something we would say so often at spelman college, something we would say at bennett college. If you see one, you can be one. [applause] jane my what a message. The final question as we do this interview is, what is the message for tomorrow . From Mary Mcleod Bethune, that we should share with our students, our children and grandchildren, and how well her legacy change the work how will her legacy change the world . The lessons are so many. Let me just use one. If you believe something, you have the responsibility to make it happen. She believed in the power of women. And she did so much to help to make it happen, including the founding of the National Council of negro women. She believed in peace and understanding so of course she was there with the founding of the United Nations. She believed that segregation was evil. And so look at what she did to bring women and people of color, particularly black people into the armed forces. She believed like in the bottom of her soul, in democracy. And thats why she served five president s. Thats why she in fact was the first person of color to really be in a federal agency. Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune could speak so eloquently. Sheol is back it up with some action. She always backed it up with some action. Thats the lesson for today. Jane what a lesson it is. Sister president , thank you. [applause] what a treat. Weve only just begun. Can you imagine . This event has been created with three Partner Organizations, the National Council of negro women that youve heard about extensively, Bethune Cookman university created by Mary Mcleod Bethune, and the fdr library. In recognition of the unique relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Mcleod Bethune, so the way we are going to have the presentations from the Partner Organizations is that in each case, we have a leader from the organization who will introduce a scholar to talk about that aspect of the life, and in order to try to keep from seeing me hop up and down, cute as i am, we are going to have people pass the baton and the podium from one to another. We are starting with the National Council of negro women. [applause] and to do that, let me bring to you the executive director. Thank you, jane. Good afternoon, everyone. It is my privilege to be part of this program today. I have the awesome privilege of introducing the eighth National President of the National Council of negro women, Thelma Thomas daily. She has a sustained relationship with the council where she serves as president and chair of the board of directors. She has served in the past as our Vice President , member at large, finance chair, convention chair, director of the Dorothy Height leadership institute, and worked on many initiatives with dr. Dorothy irene height. She has served nationally as president of five national organizations. Ncnw is only one. They include Delta Sigma Theta authority sorority. Two national and one International Counseling organization. She is an american counseling associate fellow, a noted counselor educator and specialized with students and professionals. She has a tenure with the College Board and the educational testing service. Some of the boards she has served on include the Good Shepherd center, a Residential Treatment Center for adolescence, the Carrollton Bank board, Saint Agnes Health care, and the seton institute. She is not an architect or engineer but somehow she found herself commissioner of the baltimore architecture and engineering commission. She has a long tenure of women in the naacp and she knew before jim clyburn did that he was getting the spring arm. Her professional experiences including clyburn state university, Georgetown University and loyola. She is a strong advocate for justice, especially women and girls. She gives freely of her time and talent for the welfare and growth of others. She owns degrees from bowie state university, new york university, George Washington university with additional studies pursued at America American and catholic universities and the university of american maryland. Please join me in welcoming dr. Thelma thomas daily. Dr. Daley they are supposed to have scholars appear and i am by no means a scholar, and they gave me the topic last night that i was to talk about dr. Bethune as an organizer. I dont know quite what an organizer is but let me see if i can do that. Let me also say that as we talk about dr. Bethune in terms of the National Council of negro women, in 1923 at the fifth National Convention of Delta Sigma Theta sorority she was made an honorary member. I know there are some deltas in this room and he wanted me to say that. You wanted me to say that. Youve heard many things about dr. Bethune but the one thing that really impressed me was her faith. Her faith was so deep. And in my research, i found out that every morning, she said a rising prayer and it says in my strength i rise. I have love, i have peace, i have faith. I have power. Those were her words each morning. In thy strength i rise. I have love, i have peace, i have faith, i have power. Strong words. Strong words. I wish many of our Young Students and many of our people who are out on the streets could say that each morning as they arise, as they rise. Let me give you just a brief overview because i dont know how anyone could quantify dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune as an organizer. But i dare to quote from the play that sam kelly did when he said where they were demonstrating misses bethune and she said, my sons and daughters, you are the United Nations of the world. I pass to you the torch. Take the torch higher and higher. Burn down the walls that separate us by class, color, and creed. Build bridges in the name of tolerance. Build bridges in the name of human rights. Build that bridge in the name of peace and prosperity. Build it in the name of god. And her faith was still coming out. But i think all of you have talked about her in many ways and i know you want me to talk about her as the president but they told me to talk about her as the organizer. Let me run through the litany fast because she was president of the association of studying negro life and history, president of the National Council of women in the United States, director of africanamerican Life Insurance and she was Vice President of naacp, Vice President of the National Oregon league, urban league, Vice President on the commission of cooperation, president of Florida StateTeachers Association and lincoln home for girls and all of those things. And she was appointed by president coolidge, president hoover appointed her, and frank and dello Franklin Delano roosevelt appointed her and she became the president of a black society in the whole world. She maybe was appointed for the United States but she was president of the whole world. You know that too. Let me just delve to another part of it in terms of president s. Because in 1896, the premier organization for black women was formed in this country right here and it was the National Association of colored women. And there were some women, im sure there are some members here who are members and it was formed by a group of women like Margaret Mary washington, the wife of booker t. Washington, and Josephine Ruffin and maybe some other women who were involved. We know she became the first president. She gets the credit of being the founder but there were a group of women who founded it. She was also a member of the National Association of colored women, was this great lady from florida whose name was mary mcleod bassoon. Mary Mcleod Bethune. Many of them were suffragettes during that period to but mrs. Bethune was active because she became the fourth president in 1924 to 1928. She said, i have arrived. I have a platform im going to use because im president of a premier organization, and i want them to move across this world, bring all the scattered bodies together and we are going to have a collective body in a unity, a unified body. Is that correct, sister . Jane yes. Dr. Daley thank you very much. She moved out and she said, we want a headquarters for the National Association of colored women in washington, d. C. Because it is the power. She pushed and pushed until she got a house right here in washington, d. C. But she kept pushing and pushing and she couldnt push them enough. They were not following her vision. In some ways, she left. She took some women with her and she met misses roosevelt and a lot of she met mrs. Roosevelt and a lot of other people and you know those stories. But in 1935, she called to gather a group of 26 women representing 26 organizations and was there and was resisting a little bit because she said he will diminish the National Association you will diminish National Association of colored women and misses but then mrs. Buffoon had a personality. She brought together this ms. Bethune brought together this family. She nudged and nudged and somewhere they voted for it. And even Mary Church Terrell who had been the first president of the National Association of colored women became an author officer. That was the power of Mary Mcleod Bethune. That was the founding of the National Council of negro women, the National Council of negro women. Are there any members of the National Council of negro in this auditorium today . [cheers and applause] and i have to tell you notably, National Council of negro was formed notably today, if we look at it, 20 years before the montgomery boycott. A bit of history there. So it was an organization of organizations. Today it spans as an organization of 32 Large Organizations representing two 2 million women, representing 330 plus you call them chapters, i have to say chapters for you. We call them sections across the country. And many collegiate sections across the country. Because the idea was to raise women from social and political invisibility to a sustained presence in National Affairs in the Nations Capital. So she led the National Association of colored women to have a building in the Nations Capital and she said the net sent said the National Council of negro had to have a building. She tried to get a building on Dupont Circle but she was rebuffed but she moved to vermont avenue where that building stands today. That was the building she put for the National Council of negro to operate so it could have a place in washington, d. C. I cant tell you everything about all of the things she did but let me just say to you, she pushed for lobbying. She gathered the women to raise money to name and build as you know, the Harriet Tubman riveter ship. You also know she broke down the barriers in the military. And she was the one who integrated the whacs as we called them. She traveled abroad. She was the 1 i think councilman clyburn said it she was the one at the table in 1945 in San Francisco when the United Nations was formed. Because she was there, the National Council of negro became a Nongovernment Organization in 1946. And today, almost all of those organizations that belong to the National Council of negro women have their days at United Nations and ncnw has ongoing staff and relationships at the National Council of negro women. She connected with haiti and nigeria and brazil and across the world and taught us to have faith, taught us diplomacy, taught us to believe in oneself. She taught us to never leave anyone behind. And her legacy flourished in the millions and millions of women who carry forth the banner of the National Council of negro women. Long live the memory of dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune. [applause] jane and now, the fdr library, Nancy Roosevelt ireland and alito black. Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to join you in celebrating the installation of the Mary Mcleod Bethune statue here in statuary hall, and in celebrating the amazing woman she was. I am here in two capacities, first in my role of chair of the trustees of the fdr president ial Library Museum itch contains so much of the historical record influenced by dr. Bethune. In our acting director bill harris is also here today. Just raise your hand over there. I am here also as the granddaughter of two of the people who would be most enthusiastic about dr. Bethunes induction into statuary hall, franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The partnership between my grandparents and dr. Bethune was integral to our nations history and instrumental in shaping the civil and Human Rights Movement that continued today. I would like to thank Jane Campbell and the u. S. Capitol Historical Society as well as members of congress who are here. Many people worked long and hard to get us and dr. Bethunes statue to this point. My grandmother demonstrated intelligence and vision in so much of what she did, but perhaps nowhere more than in the company she kept. As dr. Black will tell you, Eleanor Roosevelt considered dr. Bethune her closest friend in her age group that was her description. The relationship between the two was one of trust and Mutual Respect with the kinship of lifelong coconspirators. Both women admired each others boundless energy. Neither liked to sit still and it was evident in a grant i get will note my grandmother once sent. She said, i am sorry because i know how much it must annoy you to be ill at this time. They were able to keep the most important challenges of the days in front of each other and were eager to appear in public together even in the depths of the jim crow south. Over their decades long friendship, dr. Bethune advanced my grandmothers understanding of civil rights and commitment to and belief in the possibility of political and social change. Her friends coley created a collaboration in which eleanor as first lady created a platform for these leaders, many of whom pushed the administration to be more inclusive and representative of all americans. As Mary Mcleod Bethune did in official and unofficial capacities, she was immeasurably influential in the new deal era. She is so deserving of todays honor. She would be featured in an exhibit at the fdr library this spring on race and the roosevelts. I hope you all will consider you consider traveling to hyde park. Dr. Bethune said without faith, nothing is possible, with face faith nothing is impossible. It is my honor to introduce one of our panelists, dr. Black, trustee of the fdr roosevelt president ial library and renowned historian who has devoted much of her life to telling my grandmothers story. She has written and edited 10 books on Eleanor Roosevelt and women in Public Policy. Shes a distinguished visiting scholar at the Miller Center at the university of virginia, and Senior Advisor to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the Library Library and president liberian president. She is more energetic than anyone i know and possesses a wicked sense of humor. Ive known dr. Black for roughly 35 years and enjoyed every minute. [applause] dr. Black hey, everybody. It is my indescribable joy to be here today with goosebumps on my arms, to just give the most hard out flippant shout out i can give to Mary Mcleod Bethune that i hope echoes around the world. Because i used to say before 9 11, but i decided i would reclaim it, is that Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Mcleod Bethune were the twin towers of justice of the last century. You cannot talk about education, access to health care, the living wage, the integration of the military, the role that women played in the military, the concept of human rights, what the u. N. Would be, the strategy for the legal, what became known as the Naacp Legal Defense Fund committee, without talking about these two women. They fought with each other. They loved each other. They called each other by their first names which was unheard of. It was a sign of the most profound respect that Mary Mcleod Bethune could call Eleanor Roosevelt eleanor. Everyone else called her mrs. R. So there was a spirit here that was a fighting spirit. And so what i want to talk today and i could talk about this forever so i can turn my fitbit on and my nine minutes, i want to talk about how Mary Mcleod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt worked sidebyside teaching each other how to be better, how to risk themselves for justice and what needed to be done in both the policy sense and an organizational sense to get there. So just, i love nancy, love fdr, have a bust of him at my house, but if you thought fdr and Mary Mcleod Bethune agreed on everything you can flap your wings and fly home right now. So what Eleanor Roosevelt did over her 30 year friendship with bethune was listen, ask questions, organize, open her checkbook, she was a leading donor to Bethune Cookman. She was a lifelong member of ncnw and if my memory is not correct was the third check that went to ncnw. She understood bethunes incessant ability as a fundraiser because she couldnt do anything she did that she didnt know how to browbeat people effectively with that booming voice and that stick that she stood on like, do not mess with me, to get the money. But what i want to do in my remaining eight minutes is to talk about bethune and er as mirrors to the government. And then mirrors to the world. Because they did not back down. They both knew how to talk inside government and they knew how to talk outside government to hold government accountable. Case in point, in the new deal when young people were left out of the new deal programs, Eleanor Roosevelt says, i live in fear and trembling that we are losing this generation. She pushes fdr to form the National Youth administration, which was the first Government Agency to replicate what we know now as americorps. But this being the early days of the new deal, it was all white. Eleanor roosevelt and Mary Mcleod Bethune say no. And Eleanor Roosevelt convinces Mary Mcleod Bethune to join the government, to be Minority Affairs director of the National Youth association in a position she used as an entree to what became the black cabinet. Now we are finally understanding what black cabinet did because at first we say it is just the black folks they brought into the administration and some were really good but some they just brought in to bring black folks. Bethune and eleanor united to fight that. And how did they fight that . I want to give you three quick examples. The first is they helped found the southern conference for Human Welfare in the mid1930s. It was the first biracial organization in the south of civil rights demonstrators. As well as government officials. What did they fight . They fought Inadequate Health care. They fought substandard schools, and most importantly of all, they fought the poll tax. Because you couldnt change anything if you couldnt vote. And you couldnt vote if you could improve that your grandfather could vote when they were a slave or that you had the money to pay a tax to vote or that you could go in and pass a literacy test. My literacy test would be, whats the grocery list this week . My brilliant friend janettas list is could you interpret section four article 12 of the constitution and if you could do that, how many jellybeans are in this drawer . It was the number one way to restrict my chrissy. So restrict democracy. So in 1938 they go for the first meeting of the southern conference of Human Welfare and vied and conquer. Ellen divide and conquer. Eleanor meets with the mayor of birmingham, the head of the state legislature in birmingham, and what is she talking about . How to abolish the poll tax. The most sacrosanct voting restrictions that defined the south. Bethune is organizing a biracial meeting in birmingham, black folks sat here, white folks sat here, eleanor is lobbying the mayor and governor. There is an empty seat next to bethune. Eleanor comes hauling in late, plops down next to bethune. A man im sure youve never heard of, she says fishy sicily, eugene bull, facetiously, eugene bull oconnor who helped us get the civil rights act, connors comes to eleanor and says you got to move. You are in the segregated section so elinor moves her chair and sits in the middle. You could argue rationally she was straddlingthis is the key p. She talks about abolishing the poll tax. Right after that, she leaves the next morning and her great friend her most intimate trusted companion writes a letter and says how did you survive birmingham . Have they torn you limb from limb yet . After that meeting, after her relationship with within bethune, J Edgar Hoover decides that she is communist and wants to strip her of her citizenship, have a secret meeting of the Senate Judiciary committee and wants to send her to live with her people the coloreds. She was intractable. In 1942 when black women were getting engaged in the west, the womens of the lower court, the womens auxiliary corps, they had substandard training. They are going to go overseas and some of them cant swim. In detroit, black women cant swim in the something pool. Together, they integrate the public swimming facilities in detroit. Step number two, every ounce of nitroglycerin produced in the Second World War was not only made, it was poured into bottles. The bottles were put into cases, the cases were loaded into trucks. The trucks were driven and unloaded and given to the military. Nitroglycerin the most volatile weapon the United States has before the bomb. Black women in baltimore made every ounce. What does that tell you about what the army thought of expendable people . But thune and bethune and eleanor had a major conversation with the secretary of the army who believed that leadership was not embedded in the negro race. They changed the living conditions, the income, the insurance levels and what the women in that factory got for their work. Let me jump to my third port third point. I had the joy to work with a woman who most of you know she was the first woman to be democratically elected to lead an african nation and would later when the nobel peace prize. And the rest is with Hillary Clinton. I cannot help these two women because of the guidance that Mary Mcleod Bethune gave me. I can help these women because of the guidance that Mary Mcleod Bethune gave. She is not at the table, she is yelling at the table. She is at the table because an ngo that was invited as an official representative of the United States to the United Nations by Eleanor Roosevelt. Because Eleanor Roosevelt wanted bethunes take on the weaknesses of what would become the u. N. Charter would be. She wanted bethunes honest feedback. The next year, Eleanor Roosevelt is appointed the only woman to the First American delegation to the United Nations. She is disparaged by all of the men who were on the committee who wanted to lock her in a room and give her culture to deal with. This is no hyperbole, the paper trail is a million miles long. When eleanor just to show you the difficulties, when eleanor was asked by the u. N. To chair the First Commission on human rights in the u. N. , there were 51 member nations of the United Nations. 50 voted for. The one person who did not want her was us. The person who pushed her, the person who wanted her, the person she stays in Constant Contact with is Mary Mcleod Bethune. If you read the universal declaration of human rights which i have spent most of my life studying and kind to live up to trying to live up to, i want you to promise me you will do one thing. I want you to leave this and read the declaration. Then i want you to read the last will and testament of Mary Mcleod Bethune. Then i want you to get a pencil and i want you to draw a line from one line in the will and testament and send it back to the universal declaration of human rights. Think about how these women taught each other. How these women held each other accountable. How these women, these two women and Duke Ellington are the money behind brown v. Board of education. The Naacp Legal Defense Fund was brandnew. The people who were the three biggest fundraisers for that were Duke Ellington, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mary Mcleod Bethune. Throughout their life, they were interwoven together. Eleanor roosevelt was passionate about and cnw. In the spirit of ncnw, the other ghost that is here now, the other spirit that we must embrace and celebrate and must never be forgotten is the incomparable Dorothy Height. She helped me understand their relationship a lot. They were on my board when i ran the eleanor papers which is documentary history of Eleanor Roosevelt human rights work defined. Lastly, i am with dr. Height one day and we have gone out of the National Cathedral and shes giving me a hard time for not going to church. [laughter] were getting in a car to go have lunch. She said i forgot to tell you she said i didnt think it was appropriate but the more i think about it i think you really need to document. Just imagine Dorothy Height and all of her splendor and her real posture regal posture in the wheelchair with this extraordinary hat turning around to tell me the story. She said its 19 47. Dr. Bethune told me this as her favorite eleanor memory. She said they are in nashville and i 1947, dr. Bethunes asthma was controlling her life. As an asthmatic i dont get what she did without any inhalers. She goes to me with eleanor who is staying in the Hermitage Hotel. The Hermitage Hotel is where rich white folks stay in nashville. Eleanor has invited dr. Bethune to come up and have tea with her and theyre going to leave together to go to the southern conference for humans welfare again. Dr. Bethune goes to the elevator and this nincompoop who ran the elevator said we dont take your kind in the elevator. You need to go up in fright. Freight. Dr. Bethune stands up, she puts down her cane and she says dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune is not freight. She walks up four flights to eleanors room. I know what its like to walk when your lungs are imploding. She gets up there and she knocks on the door, she opens the door, she comes in and she is wheezing. Eleanor is freaking out because her friend is really ill. She says we need a doctor, they send a white doctor. The white doctor wont treat bethune. Eleanor makes the white doctor treat bethune and they go down in the elevator together Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Mcleod Bethune. They go into the lobby of this plush place and these are women who by now are calling each other eleanor and mary. They get halfway across the lobby and eleanor turns to Mary Mcleod Bethune and says dr. Bethune, im so sorry to be so rude, but i have left something in my room. I must go back and get it. Could you come with me . Do you mind . They turn around, they go back in the elevator that rejected bethune and that is how the Hermitage Hotel in nashville, tennessee was integrated. [applause] always remember they were tough, they risked their lives, they risk their reputations, they risk their incomes, but they sure knew the power of a symbolic gesture. May we revel in Mary Mcleod Bethunes fierce courage. May we hazard everything we have to implement her vision. If you dont take a risk today after you walk by statute, shame on you. Thank you very much. [applause] im going to get you. Thank you thank you thank you. Please please please. Now, youre going to get a real scholar. It is my great pleasure to introduce to misha whitaker whose work i have admired for decades and i have never met. I always scrub titles. She is associate professor of communications at Bethune Cookman college and my forever friend. Thank you. Fellow panelists, distinguished guests, presenters all of you who have gathered here in the auditorium. Those of you who are livestreaming with us. Friends of dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune all. We have heard quite a bit already about the life the work and accomplish some dr. Bethune. I believe we will hear quite a bit more. The occasion is certainly historic with a statue of her representing in the great hall. Why does this matter . That is the question we must answer to ensure this moment is not perceived as just an exercise and a history lesson. For all people and particularly for our young people as misses bethune would say. We must emphasize the importance of her legacy today. Aside from the significance of her legacy, it is of giving and serving was punctuated with principles that remain critically necessary and important for the preservation of a more peaceful and just society today. For all people for black people, white people everywhere. Some may be surprised in all of the recognition she is now receiving. The truth is, there would be no shock at all for dr. Bethune if she were alive today because she had a track record of achieving what most deemed impossible. She was a standardbearer of the precivil rights movement. She mentored mentored howard thurman. Build businesses and established a school to meet the needs of young people who otherwise were denied an education. Her enduring legacy committed to education is one of the reasons why i was able to emigrate from the island of jamaica to the United States. As an international student. And had the opportunity to complete degrees at American University right up the street and Regent University in virginia. It was also her legacy that led me 14 years ago july 2008 to sit with the former president that she just mentioned. Dr. Dorothy height. I sat with her during an interview, i was working on a dissertation and during the interview, dr. Height talked about the relationship but she emphasized the attributes that contribute to dr. Bethunes magnetism and dynamism. One that she mentioned to me was her unique ability to build relationships across racial lines. That is her take away. It is this attribute that should compel us to assess how do we treat people. How do we treat People Better because treating People Better was mother marys philosophy. Amidst a Global Health pandemic, economic crisis, mass shootings, international conflicts, road rage and so much more. There couldnt be a more important time to emphasize the legacy of Mary Mcleod Bethune because her legacy is a cause for presentday stability. Civility. Because if we are going to tear down those walls of division and oppression wherever they exist in the world, we have to we must innovatively strategically and intentionally build diverse bridges with people. With all people. That is the substantive foundation of bethunes legacy today. She said if i have a legacy to leave my people, it is my philosophy of living and serving. How did she live and serve . Civility was the cornerstone of her life in service. Her last will and testament, yes powerful principles by which to live but if they dont become wedded to our agency, if they dont dictate to how we respond in the most difficult circumstances, then they are just remembrances. She said i leave you love. Love thy neighbor is precept that would transform the world if it were universally practiced. It gives us our agency. She said loving your neighbor means being interracial, interreligious and international. She modeled for us that we dont have to walk in hand handinhand in order to walk sidebyside. She modeled for us that in order to walk sidebyside, relationships with people with differing backgrounds, different opinions and different races can advance our society. The question is how do we fulfill our agency . What actions will we take to produce a similar result . She is long gone. Heres my definition. The intentional respectful communication one for another. Civility is dr. Bethunes legacy. The first lady of the world and advocate for youth for civil rights long before the civil rights movement. With criticism against the backdrop of times much like the ones we currently face. The climate was political and divisive. The reason i wrote a book particularly aimed at young people about their relationship is because their relationship modeled the kind of civility that we need desperately to emulate today. Two women from contrasting genealogies who chose to not be intimidated by each others differences. Instead, they channeled the strength in their differences to build better understanding for, with, and about each other. The more they Work Together, the greater they accomplished together. Not just for themselves, but for others. As you and i consider her legacy and our agency today, heres my question. For all that is currently on our heels and on our doorsteps, what would we rather do . Get mired in political Debates Holding onto our individualistic positions or would we rather activate the bravado seeking, yes the tension is high right now. Our methodology is ineffective. Here is my call to action because she never left a letter without a call to action. Number one, i want you to join me in making civility essential to our agency. Choose to advance civility the Mary Mcleod Bethune way. The Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Mcleod Bethune way. No man is an island and none of us get there alone. Number two, of which approach inequities and inequalities and injustices. The first thing i get is shes asking us to relinquish advocacy but thats not what im saying. Being civil, being intentionally respectful does not mean we abandon advocacy. It means we reposition our approach with a focus on peaceful outcomes. Peaceful outcomes. Because fist and closed mouth will not cause the uncivil to listen. But campaigns and civil dialogue like the ones mounted in florida to get the statute in statuary hall, that can. Number three, i want us to advance civility as a value and not simply an attitude. We need to move civility from an agenda item to a value statement. As a longtime professor and consultant, i often tell people how easily you can change somebodys attitude. You get up one morning you feel good. Five hours later. But values are not easily changed. Civility as a core value, i am encouraging in each of us today to make a deliberate effort to adopt it and allow it to shape your response because once you adopt it as a core value, you treat each other better. To treat people as a sacred human beings. Despite our differences in politics, race, color, creed. Heres the litmus test we just had fourth of july. What did your Backyard Barbecue look like . My generally looks like the United Nations because i believe in building bridges and not wars. The only way to do that is to intentionally build relationships across the aisle on the other side of the Railroad Track and in places that make us generally uncomfortable. Because we just might discover that those we call other have the same desires we do. They should be afforded the same rights and opportunities. There is no better time than these challenging times to advocate for peace and civility. Eleanor roosevelt and Mary Mcleod BethuneWork Together so well that you hurt or sick by the end of the relationship, yes you heard her say by the end of the relationship they both contributed to the universal declaration of human rights. The focus was not about themselves. Their focus was about people. It is always about people and how we treat people. I know for some, agency looks more radical. My mission is not to be radical. My mission is to advance change through civility. The Mary Mcleod Thune way. What is your agency . What is your agency as gleaned from the life of Mary Mcleod Bethune from her legacy . If we sit here and we soak up historical facts but we dont glean anything to have transformation in our lives, than her legacy does not endure thrust. Becoming a civil citizen of the world and allowing our agency to be rooted in civility does not mean we turn a blind eye to rude obnoxious injustice unjust behavior. What it means is that we choose to reflect her legacy by intentionally responding in a way that could potentially fuse the intensity of the uncivil exchange and create a better path forward. On this special day, when we honor this trailblazer, i invite each of us to let her legacy empower our agency. But doing so your agency your power and control your action are predicated on civility. May our agency our advocacy our character even be defined by how we engage in civility in the face of conflict and controversy for the advancement of mobile citizenry the Mary Mcleod Bethune white. The Mary Mcleod Bethune way. Thank you. If you would allow me, please welcome the german of the board, the honorable bogan perry. Good afternoon. It is indeed my privilege and honor to introduce to you the president of the crown jewel of dr. But soon of dr. Bethunes legacy. Go where there is no path, and leave a trail. Dr. Lawrence is a trailblazer. He has a demand that did not know where the path lead, he instead went where there was no path and left a trail for others to follow. He once stated that the perfections in my family made me learn to deal with things on my own. Solve problems myself. Dr. Drake is a man that believes in himself, and is played on the big stages of life, and in the business world. That past that led him to the path that led him to bethu necookman University Led him to pennsylvania, which led him to tennessee, Georgia State university, and back to this university, he obtained a mba from rockford university, he subsequently got an ma in psychology and he finally got a phd in 2015. Dr. Drake is a member of four Forbes Magazine coaches counsel, he is also the president and ceo of a leadership education and development organization. He is the chair of hold 360 in executive of halt 360. He has served as a general manager of kfc, where he had over a 1200 block restaurant that he was responsible for restaurants he was responsible for, and 9 million in revenue. He also spent 21 years with cocacola, where he served as the Division President and ceo of cocacola in nigeria, Equatorial Africa Division which consisted of 15 countries. He has served on numerous boards and been at bethunecookman as the dean of the school of business. Most importantly of all, he is a man of courage. Passion. Integrity, vision. A listener and a man of faith. I present to you the interim president of dr. Bethunes university, dr. Lawrence drake. [applause] good afternoon, everyone. I would be remiss if i did not say hail wildcats we are in the house and we need to let everybody know we are in the house. I am i do not know about you, but today was moving in so many ways. I want to thank chairman perry for that kind introduction. Also to thank him for the wise counsel he has given me. Serving as chair, more importantly, someone i can count on. He has navigated us through challenging times. Like so many others in this moment, in particular, i believe we are on the bright side of the mountain. We have an opportunity to see something that i dont do it soon saw that dr. Bethune saw. My grandmother saw something in me that i did not see in myself. I do not know how she saw it, she was one of 20 children, she said to me that she wanted me to go to college which i had no desire at all to attend. I 15, we had a at 15, we had a catastrophic event, we lost our home and we were living on the street. In that time, i do my best Critical Thinking and problemsolving i did my best Critical Thinking and problem solving. I live in a red, brick building and i used to keep myself from being twisted up like a pretzel so that i could go to school the next day and not reveal i was living in that building with the same clothes every week. I guess the biggest opportunity for me being here tonight is i get a chance to really talk about a remarkable individual. This truly ready for pcu, it is a great day for america. I am delighted to follow the were not experts on dr. Bethune, the Renowned Experts on dr. Bethune. They did a fantastic job of describing where we are in America Today as a result of where we have been. I have also been delighted to share with you where we are going. It is not enough to talk about where you have been. It is instructive to talk about or you are going, i will speak to dr. Bethune in three important ways, the founding of her school which i have the privilege of leading, our unique approach as an educator and innovator, and how we are trying to bring her legacy forward to the 21st century. I begin this by saying that there is absolutely nothing in history or her history that was suggested that this daughter of slaves born in a log cabin would go on to found a great university. She remains only one of two black women to found a Higher Education institution in the United States. The other is Elizabeth White who actually was a cofounder of Voorhees College which exists today as an historically a historically black college. You see education and faith or central pillars. They were foundational for her. In her house, when the doors were finished, if there was time, she would teach her family when she had learned that day. This is a woman who is a little girl walked 10 miles to attend school. I remember telling my children how hard it was for me to walk to school and i would say dad do not tell me that story, how hard it was for you to go to school. The fact of the matter is it was instructive and i think for dr. Bethune, 10 miles, think about the road she traveled more difficult. She did it anyway. It was through her faith and her studies at a seminary and Bible Institute that you learned and earned her degrees and began to teach she learned and earned her degrees and began to teach. She taught at a mission school. Henry flagler was building a road along the east coast of florida and she saw an opportunity to teach the daughters of the reward workers railroad workers. It did not matter where she had to pay, she went anyway pivot, she went anyway. She went with 1. 50 and six students, the land was an old dump and it was known as hells hole. You are talking about founding a school on a dump. That is not very encouraging, is it . It would not be exciting if somebody gave me adopt analyst i would not be excited if somebody gave me a dump. She was not deterred, she pivoted. She could cultivate great things in better soil, the seeds you planted are thriving even today she planted are thriving even today. She moved to a new location and as the school grew in 1923, out of necessity, she had to raise money to keep it going. It merged with the Cookman Institute of jacksonville and became known as bethunecookman college. Founding desk was an act of faith. Founding that school was an act of faith. One reason her school was so successful was her approach to education, the second point i want to share. She believed students should enter to learn, the park to serve. Depart to serve. There remains our motto today. She saw education as a turning point and turning the individual making a reality for their lives. She said and has sort up in individuals native powers, possibilities, and it is the problem, the work of education the release those powers, make it actual. Make it real. That is the fullest way to make a contribution to the sum total of what being happy is all about. Her school was holistic, the preparation of the whole person, we talked about the whole person, about not talking just to half of the person or part of the person or you talk about race or gender, you only talk about a portion of the person, not the whole person. As a whole person has so much more to offer. She understood how to take knowledge and make a real and relevant. It is not enough for someone to say that i know that. You must both know it and know how it applies. Here is what she did and how she put that in action. Her teaching style was something i wish i could have learned at her feet. She talked about learning before it was learning. She would say let me show you how to do that. Show me that you have a good grasp of what i taught. Let me see you do it. The application, of course. You can go out and make a living for yourself, share it, go out into the world and make it real. She embedded service in everything she taught. She taught students how to plant fruits and vegetables and harvest Sweet Potatoes and baking pies and support themselves. This inc. Service potential, hard work this service, potential we are bordering on 2000 students that we welcome in total in the fall. It is a proud tradition, in less than four weeks we will welcome those students, are student teacher ratio will be 151. I got all of that, how do you actually what does that look like in the 21st century . What do you intend to help do so that it becomes that dream that she had . I like to say about dr. Bethune s prayers, they are still operational. She is up there in heaven right now, i think she said ok, i am still praying and expecting my school to deliver. I as a humble servant in her stead im going to share with you a little bit of what i think we have to do to deliver on that. To me, unveiling her statue is a new beginning. It is the time or we can open up and reintroduce our university where we cannot open up and reduce our university to the world. A great university. She expected us to change and evolve and that is one of the missions she charged all of us with in her last will and testament. We have a powerful potential in our youth, we must have the courage to change old ideas in practices so that we may direct their power cords good ends. Today, it is not just the youth, we all are learners. We must remain learners. I dont learners . Adult learners . We must continue to reinvent ourselves. We must continue to realize that we know today in 20 minutes or five minutes, or one minute, someone else will be talking about a subject that will take our to the next place. I cannot rest until wes we cannot rest until we spent the rest of our life learning. It is a lifestyle, not an event. She told us many other things because we look at the needs of young people and tas were of the future and the role we can play to bridge the two, that is the top of this president and University Job of this president and university. My colleague talked about civility. My scholarship focuses on media psychology which is this intersection between social and Civic Engagement in the world of technology. They applied to psychology and cognitive science and what you find out is in the internet world, we often are not very civil. We actually hide behind civility. We actually believe that no one can discover that we are not very civil. We call that being ridiculously rude. However, in creating wellrounded specifically engaged learners we also improve the life and help outcomes but having curriculums that deal with that. Limiting the impact of the cost of learning to our students, we want to lower the cost of going to bcu. We believe the cost is too expensive. We have to change the cost. We also have to simultaneously increase the earning potential and create relational wealth generational wealth. We cannot have communities that are suffering so badly, we cannot send all students without having them at the top of their skill level. We launched reimagining bcu, that has led us to a new vision, i will share with you my vision i have shared with the board about where i believe we can. I want to be clear about what i am about to say, the definition of vision for me is a preferred future. Vision is not a goal, i will not be here in a lifetime to see this come together. It is what i believe in. If there is one thing i have learned from dr. Bethune, when you said that vision in place, you understand you will not be there to see it. My vision is where every learner enters with curiosity and the parts with a growth mindset. It is constant, committed to Lifelong Learning and ready to use their experiences to change their world for the better. This requires us to change how we operate as university. We will mary holistic readiness holistic learning with career readiness. You will see us creating opportunities for learners with certifications and credentialing and community deficits around us, we want them to be part of this university. This is a work in progress. We intend to create opportunities for all students that would be an integral part of them going out and changing the world. One example is we want to ensure in the college of business that every student has an internship from their sophomore, junior, and senior year. We want them to introduced to ever introduce the study abroad in an aggressive way. We want to focus on industries we are not talking about today in the general conversation. I believe the best days are ahead of us. I invite everyone who is part of that belief system who was part of it, who can embrace this vision, a join hands with us and make potential that she saw in all of us. Let us thank dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune for the example that she said, the lies she transformed, and the charge she has given us to bring her legacy into the 21st century. I want to leave you with one quote that she left us and it is one i believe i paid we say i believe shows what she says. This is a new day. A new age of literacy in which all men a learn to live together. All men will learn to live together. Rise up and meet it, she will call you blessed. Thank you, everyone. [applause] i am certain that dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune is smiling as she listens to her president. This has been an extraordinary day. [applause] give it up. [applause] when Historical Society started on this conversation about Mary Mcleod Bethune, in january, we knew that the story was so complex that it would never be able to be told in a short manner. We know that this is yet another moment in time we do not want this to be a one and done, we want this to be the beginning of a long conversation, when bailey talk at the beginning he talked about the fact we are creating the student materials, we will continue to do that. What we are going to do now is something that will be really fun. We are not going to do a question and answer session while you are sitting in these chairs because everybody has been sitting here way too alone, even those of you who are virtual. We have wonderful refreshments and an extraordinary panel, each of whom is willing to talk to you when you honor them. [laughter] dr. Janetta cole is here and so i will invite you in a one moment to join, we are going to take a picture, and then while you are getting your refreshments, we want take the picture and how want to give you one quote. Mary Mcleod Bethune was so prolific, everybody has shared their favorite quote. And so, as the moderator, i get to add one as we close. It was near the end of her life, when dr. Dr. Bethune but then says i leave you, love, i leave you hope. Ill leave you with the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you a thirst for education. I leave you a respect for the use of power. I leave you faith, i leave you racial dignity, i leave you a desire to live harmoniously with your fellow men and women. I leave you finally, a responsibility. To our young people. With that, we leave you to share these values with the rest of the world. You are for joining us. Thank you for joining us. [applause] [indiscernible] this afternoon, we will discuss the life of , joined by guests from the university of virginia, george mason university, and the Washington Post cheryl wells. I direct the Wilson Centers history and Public Policy program, and i have the