Unity Week's keynote speaker lectured a full house at Wednesday Pruis Hall about diversity, pressed the issues of racism and poverty and invited the audience to take part in community service.
Johnnetta Cole, former college president and author, used personal experiences and thoughts to relate with the audience, which participated in a question and answer session after the lecture.
"We must believe in change," Cole said after mentioning President Barack Obama's inauguration, "but nothing will happen if we don't do anything."
Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora said Cole brought a powerful message focusing on education.
"Dr. Cole was a college president for 15 years in two different historically black institutions," Gora said. "So she has a really good understanding of the importance of education and the role that education has played in the civil rights movement."
Cole's lecture affected students and faculty differently.
Senior Spanish major Brent Lyle said he was excited about having Cole talk about diversity and Obama's victory.
"I think it is phenomenal to see a black woman as accomplished as herself speaking about the accomplishments of other notable black people in our society," Lyle said. "Especially the most recent, which was the president inauguration yesterday."
After her lecture, Cole said she hoped students would lead society into more tolerance of diversity.
"We saw throughout the campaign the ugly head of stereotypes being reared," she said. "We know how deeply entrenched stereotypes are in the day to day actions of people, but I do believe that the visibility of the president and the first lady gives some people the chance to begin to question what they think they believe.
She also addressed the youth, mentioning the way students affected on the recent elections and what path this generation is creating.
"There is a very definitive association I think between what college [students] are experiencing and technology," she said. "When the history of this success is told years from now we will see that your generation was crucial, not only in campaigning and organizing and going out to vote, but I hope they really stay in the course now that [Barack Obama] is the president, because no man or woman will bring the change alone."
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