“Image + Ambition = Success” was the theme as the Office of Special Programs and Cultural Series took on a new approach to the spring 2011 general student assembly Thursday.
Senior agriculture and human science major Christine Williams and Junior Class King Trevon Heath opened up the assembly with a “purple and gold preview” about the success of different organizations around campus. Students and faculty were welcomed by the First Attendant to Mr. Prairie View Terry Barton, followed by an invocation by senior communications major Ryan Versey.
A musical selection followed, performed by The Panther Newspaper editors Amen Oyiboke-Osifo and J. Michael Terrell. Osifo sang “Something Inside So Strong” by Vanessa Bell-Armstrong with Terrell playing the piano. Senior business management Miles Warren said, “The music touched my heart in a way like when I first read Romeo and Juliet.”
Learning Community Coordinator for University College Narisha Jordan agreed. “The song selection brought back the old spirit of Prairie View to the new students,” she said.
The program featured Senior Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village Methodist Church in Houston.
Caldwell addressed the university to bring in the new semester and kick-off Black History Month. He brought new insight and inspiration to the student body with his interpretation of success. “Success comes with great ethics. You can have a great education, but if you do not have great ethic, you will make it nowhere,” he said. ” As students, you all have to learn that you have to have the most of the least first, and the least of the most to expand who your greater self is supposed to be.”
Several students agreed with Caldwell’s statements. Junior English major Carrie Newman said, “This was one of the best assemblies I have attended. Caldwell not only motivated students, he also gave us a foundation for success.”
Caldwell believes there are “three essential E’s” for success: esteem, education, and economics. “When you are in the real world, you have to have esteem within yourself to know that you will do well in any field that you choose,” he said. “You have to value your education and hold it near to you and know economically where you stand and how you can manage it to build your foundation.”