Every year UNM's Africana Studies Program celebrates the start of Black History Month with a brunch and speaker.
This year, the program welcomed University of Maryland President Freeman Hrabowski, according to a UNM release.
The release states that about 500 people attended the 31st Annual Black History Month Kickoff Brunch to hear Hrabowski's talk, titled Paying It Forward: Blazing a New Path for African American Academic Excellence in the 21st Century.
"I've tried to help people understand that they are preparing to be leaders, not simply to make money or have a job, but to change lives," Hrabowski is quoted in the release as saying.
Hrabowski was named chair of the newly created President's Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African-Americans in 2012, according to the release, in addition to being one of TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People."
The longtime educator is quoted in the release as saying that society must do a better job improving reading skills among elementary-aged children.
"Many time, people think the key to success in STEM is the specific science, technology, engineering or math, when in fact it's reading and comprehension skills that truly help students succeed in the STEM fields," Hrabowski is quoted in the release as saying.
For minority groups, exposure to future possibilities is also extremely important, he said in the release.
He is quoted as saying "Many African-American children have never seen an engineer or a researcher that looks like them," he said.
Matthew Reisen is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @dailylobo.
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