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| Bro. Capt. Corey Barksdale, U.S. Navy Keynote Speaker |
Gamma Pi’s Project ENRICH college preparatory program kicked off Black History Month with a powerful session highlighting Black historical achievement on Saturday, February 1, at the National Wildlife Visitors Center in Laurel. This month's session was anchored by two very exciting activities: a highly inspiring keynote address by naval submarine commander Bro. Capt. Corey Barksdale, and a series of energetic presentations by Project ENRICH students who took turns expounding on the lives and accomplishments of oft-forgotten African American heroes.
More than
100 students and family members attended the February session. On one hand, the
purpose of the special program was to bring Black History Month to life with the
presence of a real-life African American hero, in the person of Naval Academy alumnus Bro. Barksdale,
who told his story about pivoting from the depths of “hanging out with
the wrong crowd” in a small town in Virginia to leading young men and women from the depths of a nuclear submarine for the United States Navy. The other consideration for hosting the Black History Month
session was to provide Project ENRICH students an opportunity to hone public speaking and
presentation skills before a live audience.
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| Bro. Capt. Barksdale with his son, Bro. McCory King, and Project ENRICH director Bro. Dr. George Montgomery |
Bro. Capt. Barksdale led off the session with a rousing 20-minute stemwinder weaving together his personal story, his exciting and challenging naval career and training as well as his acquired philosophy about success and failure in a life that has made the best of all the ups and downs to get him to where he is today. Bro. Capt. Barksdale is one of 17 Black Naval officers to command a U.S. Navy submarine. He commanded the nuclear submarine USS Columbia in 2021.
"Many of the people I hung out with where I grew up are either not here right now, they are locked up in prison or they are not really doing too well in their lives," Bro. Barksdale told the students. "But fortunately I was able to make it out of that environment and turn my life around."
Bro. Capt. Barksdale told the students that one of the people who was very instrumental in encouraging him to redirect his life towards higher pursuits is Gamma Pi chapter's own Bro. McCory King. They grew up together in Matoaca, Virginia in Chesterfield County. Bro. King was in attendance to welcome his homeboy and Frat Brother to Project ENRICH. Bro. Capt. Barksdale now works for the Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon.
In closing, Bro. Capt. Barksdale left the students with this thought: "Each of you has the potential to go far beyond where you think you can go ... Success is not about what you accomplish. It's about how you handle the journey. You've got to have the right attitude. Your attitude is what's going to help you overcome challenges."
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| This student talks about legendary ABC newsman Max Robinson |
The lineup of heroes and their presenters was long but informative. It included the likes of Disney creative engineer Lanny Smoot, inventor Frederick McKinley Jones, Marsha Williams, the first African American woman to earn a Ph D. in Computer Science and Amelia Boynton Robinson, the first African American woman to run for Congress, all under the watchful eye of Project ENRICH chairman Bro. Dr. George Montgomery.
For Gamma Pi, it was a memorable occasion and certainly a high water moment in the 40-plus years of Project ENRICH. To learn more about Project ENRICH, visit the web site.
Below are some other snapshots from the program:
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| Bro. Capt. Barksdale poses with Omega men |
