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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1996)
February 6,1 The Battalion Tuesday February 6, 1 996 Aggielife Page 3 ents i Struve, THE Baitau* or science ma- Dmore computer (ware designed An open house iervices Lab s Week. irders n come to the er for individ- Ip is not a sip tettor said. ‘It ?ngth to ask for courage.” ;pect that some is an eatingdis ommends offer t and listening if nagging them , Aggie Reach senior biomei- or, said Aggie programs about a ting disorders Is, fraternities a lot of success j as people com ; ndually sayiuf rone who maj r signs,” Liggir e’ve gotten a lot jr programs." tid of (( Today jHTNEWS Edoor Editor i s Editor IITOR Graphics EditqiI > Editor Pamela Benson, enry, Lisa lohn- ■s Swift, Angela el Barry, Kristina )eLuca, Thomas able, John LeBjs, Jance, Stephanie ft Rob Clark, Erin ine Mejia, Chris , Kieran Watson ngkriwan, Amy y Willis & Evan jbarak, Michele Goodwin, John Jerado Queaada andy Cater, Am- LM University in iiirnalism. 045 3313; FaX: irsement by The I 845-2696. For 5 Reed McDon- ax: 845-2678. it to pick up a sin- 0 per schrml year American Express, y during the fall nmer sessions iniversity. uilding, Texas Words of Wisdom Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. influences Wheatfall to inspire others Tim Moog, The Battalion Donavan Wheatfall, a sophomore business major, speaks at the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration last month in Rudder Auditorium. By Wes Swift The Battalion D onovan Wheatfall stands at the podium, his voice rising and ebbing as if it was wandering through a mountain range. His hands move with every word, cutting through the air like the ocean waves. Every sentence erupts through his lips like fire. The several hundred people sitting in the hard-backed seats of Rudder Auditorium punctu ate his speech with staccato applause and thun dering affirmations, supporting everything he says as if he had read their minds. The crowd has come on this chilly January night to honor Martin Luther King Jr., the man who used fiery speech to bring peaceful change. And in each of Wheatfall’s syllables, the specter of King hovers above. Donovan Wheatfall is in his element. It is two weeks after the MLK celebration at Rudder, and Wheatfall sits at a table in the MSC. Outside, the evening twilight highlights Rudder Fountain. Here, away from the podium, his words are just as powerful. He moves fluidly, mixing his movements and words like a grandmother blend ing ingredients to make a cake. “I have been given a gift,” Wheatfall says. “There are things that have been given to me that have been given to other people, but they don’t know how to articulate that.” The sophomore business major has spent al most as much time on the speaker’s platform as off it. Wheatfall is only 19 years old, but his age belies his exceptional life. An ordained minister since age 17, Wheatfall is also state president of the NAACP for all col leges in the state of Texas. His speeches have reached crowds as large as 13,000. He has spoken across the country and across the world. Those who have heard him include Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.; Ralph Abernathy, King’s right-hand man in the 1950s and 1960s; and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, perhaps the most recognized African-American social activist of the past 20 years. I After a speech in Nova Scotia, Canada, be fore the province’s House of Representatives, the premier approached Wheatfall and offered this praise: “Your are welcome in Nova Scotia,” the pre mier said, “as long as you don’t run for office.” That kind of adulation is commonplace from Wheatfall’s audience. “I think he is one of the most visionary orators of his generation,” Kevin Carreathers, A&M di rector of Multicultural Services who has known Wheatfall for several years, said. “When I hear him speak, I hear a lot of Dr. King.” Others have noticed a current of King in Wheatfall as well. Wheatfall proudly, yet humbly, says that those close to King have told Wheatfall that his speeches remind them of the slain civil rights leader. But that should not be surprising, considering that King’s words pushed Wheatfall toward his career as an orator. Wheatfall was in the fifth grade when he first heard “Sense of Dignity,” one of King’s speeches. The speech was a wake-up call for the young Wheatfall. “What (King) was saying (in the speech) was that in life, some people think they are superior and some people think they are inferior,” Wheatfall says. “I was one of those who thought I was inferior.” Overweight as a child, Wheatfall was ridiculed as a youngster, even receiving the nickname “Fat” from his peers. To compensate, he became a class clown, making himself the butt of jokes. Wheatfall credits King with changing him. Af ter hearing “Sense of Dignity,” the youngster real ized that he did not have to be the kid everyone laughed at. “It enlightened me to the fact that we’re all equal,” Wheatfall said. “Everyone has a signifi cance on God’s keyboard, from the treble whites to the black bass.” Galvanized by those thoughts, Wheatfall joined The Original King’s Kids, a pack of chil dren that toured the country delivering inspira tional speeches and songs. He stayed with the Kids until he graduated from high school. As part of the Kids, Wheatfall traveled not only around the United States, but also to Bu dapest, Hungary and later. Nova Scotia. It was also as part of the Kids that Wheatfall decided to become a professional orator,* quite a step up from being the fat kid everyone made fun only years earlier. Yes, Wheatfall has considered going into poli tics. Yes, Wheatfall has considered trying for state and national offices, perhaps even the White House. But if public office is not in the works, Wheat- fall still has plans to keep a close eye on the those who make the laws. “I see myself in the future always in the public eye,” Wheatfall said, “always listening to the peo ple and trying to apply what they tell me and try ing to make a difference.” Wheatfall also has closer tasks at hand. He is about to launch Mantum Corporation, a public speaking firm that will manage Wheatfall’s ca reer, as well as other inspirational speakers. But the orator never has his eye too far off the future. Wheatfall is set on making a difference. He wants to be remembered not only as a man who toiled endlessly to improve the anarchy that sur rounded him, but also had the right attitude along the way. “I want to be remembered as a man who, even in the midst of all of this, had a smile on my face everywhere I go,” he said. “People always ask me, ‘Why are you always smiling?’” and I say, ‘It’s not what’s on the out side, it’s what’s on the inside.’ So when it’s all said and done, I want someone to say, ‘He may have made mistakes, but the quality of the man outweighs all of those things.’” Students '7 want to see a day where it isn't necessary. If the culture is represented throughout the year, you learn about us with everyone else." — Tina Harrison chairwoman of the Black Awareness Committee celebrate culture during Black History Month By Amy Protas The Battalion W hat started out as a week to cele brate a highly ignored minority has turned into a month-long cele bration that has endured. That celebration is Black History Month. To some A&M students, a month is not long enough. Steven Traylor, president of Alpha Phi Alpha and a senior finance major, said al though the month is special, the African- American culture should be celebrated all the time. “You have to open your eyes year- round,” Traylor said. “I want people to real ize even though February is the month African-Americans celebrate, people shouldn’t stop at February 28. Diversity doesn’t stop being an issue when February is over.” Black History Month may only be a month long, but campus organizations are determined to make the most of it. Tonya Turner, president of Alpha Kappa Alpha and a senior marketing major, said her culture is an important part of her life. “To me, a month isn’t enough time,” Turner said. “I’m very into my culture. I celebrate it all the time, but if there has to be a designated time, I want that to be the best it can be. It’s a part of my culture, and it’s a part of me.” Turner said her sorority wants to em phasize service to the community as their message throughout the month. A black history Jeopardy and a book dri ve are among the events planned. In addi tion, Melanie Lawson, a news anchor for KTRK Channel 13 in Houston will speak. Turner said in today’s society, the com munity tends to get neglected. “For Black History Month, our focus is going to be back to service,” Turner said. “People have strayed from the community. The kids are our future, and without them, all is lost. We need to make sure that the youth understand the struggle.” Tina Harrison, chairwoman of the Black Awareness Committee and a senior finance major, said that .while the month is necessary now, it will hopefully no longer have to exist. “Black History Month is extremely important now,” Harrison said. “I want to see a day where it isn’t necessary. If the culture is represented throughout the year, you learn about us with every one else. Hopefully, we won’t need a Black History Month.” The committee is hosting “Envy Among Us,” a program about prejudice within the African-American culture. The committee is also sponsoring “HIV-Could Be You.” It wants students to be more aware of the problem of AIDS in the community. People who are HIV positive will be speaking to let students know that there will be free AIDS testing in February. The PanHellenic Council is hosting a Harambee Festival. The festival gets African-American orga nizations to highlight something special about their group. The programs are open to all students. Traylor said achieving diversity at a school like A&M is going to be complicated. He said he hopes the programs will help to educate students. “I don’t think, you can achieve diversity at a school like A&M unless people are ex posed to Black History Month,” Traylor said. “If A&M continues to not want multi- culturalism, we will never have diversity. “This is one way we, as African-Ameri cans, can enlighten others to our culture. We encourage everyone to come out and open their eyes and ears.” Stephanie Rhodes, a program adviser in the Memorial Student Center, said Black History Month educates other cultures to the African-American experience. “The month allows an opportunity to share knowledge not always gotten through traditional education,” she said. “People have always thought of African- Americans as being of an ignorant nature. But blacks have made tremendous contri butions in science and medicine. “People don’t know because they haven’t been taught. Even African-Americans don’t know, and if they don’t, most other peo ple in society don’t know either.” Rhodes said Black History Month is not only for African-Americans. It is a time for all cultures to unite. “This is a time to truly educate and provide knowledge,” Rhodes said. “It’s not only for African-Americans to come together. “But other ethnic groups can come to gether to share and learn about a com mon theme, a common issue.”
