ON C AMPUS
Student Engagement Series Offers Inspiring Lineup
MANHATTAN’S FIFTH ANNUAL STUDENT ENGAGEMENT LECTURE SERIES featured a diverse panel of speakers — each one demonstrating philanthropic, military, athletic or scholastic prowess — who were similarly inspirational in the messages they delivered. The series began with a talk by Will Reeve, son of Christopher Reeve, the actor who protrayed Superman. Reeve spoke on behalf of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and shared the foundation’s mission — to improve the lives of people with paralysis and to discover cures for spinal cord injuries. After an accident in 1995 left his father paralyzed until his death in 2004, Reeve set out to find a cure. “My dad was an arbiter of hope,” Reeve said. “He dreamed of a world of empty wheelchairs.” The Reeve Foundation’s treatment plans and dedicated patient care provide a continuum of hope for individuals living with paralysis worldwide. Reeve’s latest quest is to raise funds for Adaptoys, a new venture to create modified toys allowing paralyzed people to enjoy more active time with their families. “No one should have a disadvantage just because they happen to be in a wheelchair,” he said. The series continued with an inspiring talk from Lieutenant General Maryanne Miller, chief of Air Force Reserve, U.S. Air Force, headquartered in Washington, D.C., and commander, Air Force Reserve Command, at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. Her résumé was built on experiences with servant leadership — the belief that leaders should maintain their level of authority but they should work with, not against, less-experienced team members. One of Miller’s key philosophies is that people are meant to serve selflessly. “Love for others is what we are to live by, and it doesn’t make you weak. It makes you strong,” she said. Her words resonated strongly with members of the Manhattan College Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, who were all present at the lecture, and she encouraged everyone in the audi8 N spring 2017
ence to remember that leadership is truly about helping others better themselves and achieving common goals. Next in the lineup was former NBA basketball player, Jason Collins. Aside from an impressive 13-year career with six teams and two NBA Finals appearances, Collins is known for being the first openly gay athlete to play in a major American team sport. He shared his personal journey to find openness and self-acceptance with the Manhattan College community. After briefly detailing his early life in California and his time in the NBA, Collins told listeners about the struggle he’d had with his sexuality for years, which he’d masked in fear that the sports community would view him differently. “I just wanted to play my sport and not acknowledge my true self,” Collins remembers. The 2011 NBA lockout finally prevented him from using basketball as a distraction. In 2013, Collins went public. His actions freed him, and he became a model for others who have remained silent about their struggles. “Adversity is a challenge — a challenge that is meant to be overcome,” Collins said. The series concluded with a philosophical talk led by Martin O’Malley, Ph.D., coordinator of the Hearts of Flesh-Not Stone Project at the Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies. His conversation was framed around the question, “Are we ‘guilty,’ and do we have debt or responsibility for past injustices?” He cited the Holocaust and the U.S. Civil War as examples of widespread injustices, and asked the audience if they were responsible for making amends for the crimes committed in the past, even though they did not actively participate in these events. To answer this, O’Malley pointed to the difference between the traditional definition of justice, and what can actually be done to make amends. He redefined justice as actions that give practical results for the good of society, and made it clear that there are always multiple perspectives when it comes to thinking about major conflicts. A solution may not always be clear-cut, but it should always keep in mind the best interest of the people. Together, Reeve, Miller, Collins and O’Malley inspired the Manhattan College community to help those in need, work as a team, stand up to adversity, and look for a solution to every problem. Former NBA basketball player Jason Collins and Lieutenant General Maryanne Milller, chief of Air Force Reserve, U.S. Air Force, were just two luminaries in an all-star speaker lineup that also included Will Reeve, son of the late actor Christopher Reeve, and Martin O’Malley, coordinator of the Hearts of Flesh-Not Stone Project at the Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies, at the Student Engagement Lecture Series.