Cedric Jennings discusses biography at last night's common reading presentation

09/23/10 - It was 1993 when an African American honor student's name was left off of the list of outstanding students that would later be given to a reporter."He's nothing but trouble. He's an honor student, but too proud," the principal said of Cedric Jennings, after urging the reporter to stay away from him.

Ron Suskind, the reporter and now author of Jennings' biography, "A Hope in The Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League," met Jennings when he stormed into the principal's office demanding that the principal change the 'B plus' on his report card to an 'A.'

Jennings, the current Director of the Office of Youth Program in Washington D.C., came to the University of Rhode Island's Edwards Hall Auditorium last night to speak about his experiences transitioning from his predominantly black high school to his experiences as an undergraduate student at Brown University and beyond.

As a part of the URI 101 curriculum freshmen were required to read "A Hope In the Unseen," over the summer as part of a "common reading" requirement.


Jennings had a lot of advice to give students, most of which his mother had told him, whom he called his biggest supporter and mentor. Part of her advice was, "Fake it till you make it," he said.

Jennings shared that coming from an inner-city black society, he was only accustomed to his own culture. Thus, at Brown University, which Suskind states as having a 33 percent minority student population during Jennings' enrollment, he had to pretend that he knew what he was doing until he figured it out, he explained.

"If you're at a formal dinner and don't know which fork to use, wait and watch what someone else does," he said.

Jennings also discussed his changing views on the relationship between race and social class. In high school, Jennings considered African Americans to be like those on the television show "Good Times," as struggling lower-class, inner-city blacks. He saw blacks who grew up in the suburbs, who had parents who were doctors and lawyers, or who had a life similar to the Huxtable family on "The Cosby Show" as "white," he said.

However, his experience working as a therapist after college helped change his views. He interned as a therapist at a middle school in a community with a lot of racial tension and a strong economic and social divide. What shocked him was the first student he worked with was a Caucasian girl who lived in a housing project. Before that, he had no idea that Caucasian people lived in the projects, he said.

He credits his experiences in college and getting to meet people with different values and belief systems to helping him question his own beliefs and learn about other cultures.

Jennings now works in the Washington D.C. area in the Office of Youth Program, which aims to empower young people in the community and help them engage in the government.

Jennings does not consider his post high school success to be an abnormality-others have made it out of the city, it just is not publicized, he said. He believes he is just a proud, hard worker who has learned a lot, both academically and socially, over the years. He just wants to share his story, he said.

Jennings' lessons are ones that sophomore Mecca Smith said she has shared since she arriving at URI. Smith came from Central High School in Providence, R.I. where, "[It's] so easy to be left behind," she said.

"No one cares to look and help you," Smith said. "You have to work extra hard to be on the same level as kids in other schools."


However, since coming to URI, she has found success both academically and socially-participating in the honors program, being an orientation leader and a URI 101 mentor. It was a story of success she shared with Jennings personally after last night's presentation.