Alumni achievements add to legacy, progression

What began as a night school in 1884 quickly became a powerhouse for academics throughout the course of Temple’s 125-year history. In the 20th century alone, Temple has produced notable alumni in every field.

The university is home to a variety of notable entertainers. Bill Cosby and Bob Saget, famous comedians and sitcom actors, both attended Temple in the late 1970s. Musical icons Daryl Hall and John Oates are also Temple alumni.

John L. Dotson Jr., who graduated from the School of Communications and Theater in 1958, received the Pulitzer Gold Medal in 1994 for Meritorious Public Service in recognition of a series on race relations written in the Akron Beacon Journal, a newspaper of which Dotson was president and publisher.

Dotson paved the way for future Temple alumni to receive Pulitzer Prizes because Joby S. Warrick, Class of 1982, and Clarence J. Williams III, Class of 1993, received Pulitzer Prizes in Public Service and Feature Photography, respectively.
Award-winning and famous alumni’s histories are woven together with Temple’s history. Just as fascinating as those alumni are Temple’s notable graduates from the first half of the school’s history.

Harry Toran graduated from the School of Pharmacy in 1949 when it was still located in Center City. Prior to attending the school, Toran was a student in the School of Podiatry. Shortly after entering the university, Toran joined the Army under the G.I. Bill during World War II.

“The G.I. Bill was the best the thing the government came up with during that time,” he said.

Toran is not the only alum who remembers what it was like to be in college during wartime.

Evelyn Keiser, a health professions alumna and co-founder of Keiser University, recalls the lack of male presence on campus during the war.

“It was not an easy time, especially since the war was going on,” Keiser said. “The school emptied very quickly of all its male students. It was a little scary.”

After returning from the war, Toran re-entered Temple as a pharmacy student.

“I commuted [to Temple] for the first year, and the second year, I got an apartment on Green Street near the Art Museum,” Toran said. “I lived with two other friends, and we paid $25 a month and made an agreement that I would cook if they washed the dishes. That’s the deal.”

Toran went on to become a pharmacist and donates money annually to the School of Pharmacy. His two sons, also Temple alums, donate to their respective schools, the School of Law and the School of Dentistry.

Seventy years before this year’s move of the Tyler School of Art to Main Campus, Jeanne Alexander Kramer was one of the first students to attend the school in the 1930s.

“Tyler had just opened then, and what I remember most is how it looked like the original estate,” Kramer said. “The ballroom was beautiful, and the music room still had the original grand piano in it.”

Kramer said she appreciated the beauty and ambience of Tyler at Elkins Park and said she was somewhat sad when she heard of the school’s relocation to Main Campus.

“I was one of the first students to attend Tyler when it first opened, and I’m still alive when it’s leaving to go to Main Campus,” she said. “It’s made me very nostalgic. I hear it’s really beautiful, the new one, but I’m still nostalgic about the Tyler at Elkins Park.”

Despite this move, Kramer said she won’t let her memories of the Tyler she knew fade away.

“It was such a great time living and learning on that estate. It was a beautiful place. My most wonderful memories came from Tyler, and I feel bad that it won’t be used anymore. It was there for a good many years.”

Joshua Fernandez can be reached at josh.fernandez@temple.edu.

Cosby not around for my commencement

I was an eager freshman in 2004.

That fall, Bill Cosby, Board of Trustees member, alumnus and longtime university advocate, held his second annual “Cosby 101” event, during which he lectured to incoming Temple students on life, the city and education.

There he promised the graduating Class of 2008 – my class – he would speak at our commencement. As a freshman, I thought this would be the greatest thing in the world and looked forward to continuing in the Temple tradition of having Cosby speak at my graduation.

But, of course, a lot can change in four years.

Cosby is not scheduled to speak at the 2008 commencement, as reported last week by The Temple News [“Graduation speaker announced,” Alex Irwin, April 14, 2008].

He hasn’t spoken at a Temple graduation event since 2004.

Since then, he has appeared only sporadically at Temple, such as when he addressed the track and field team in early 2007 and a handful of teach-ins for the college of education. Even the very “Cosby 101” event that was promoted as a yearly occurrence hasn’t taken place since 2004.

In the past, the university has claimed it is Cosby’s schedule that precludes him from coming back to North Broad.
Cosby has indeed been busy, but he’s had time to fit in lots of graduation speeches.

He has spoken at Spellman College, Dillard University and the University of Connecticut since 2004, according to the Chicago Tribune.

He also spoke at the May 2007 graduation ceremony held by High Point University in High Point, N.C., as reported by The Temple News [“Cosby to speak at 2007 High Point grad,” Alex Irwin, Sept. 5, 2006].

In April 2006, Stuart Sullivan, then the university’s vice president for development and alumni affairs, suggested Cosby was distancing himself from Temple, [“Celebrity support wanes,” Megan Kelsey, April 25, 2006]. Sullivan said the university wanted Cosby to be the lone alumni commencement speaker – a tradition.

Well, it’s been broken.

This year, Floyd W. Alston, a local business leader and 1970 graduate, is the featured university-wide speaker. Calls to Cosby and his publicist were not returned regarding this matter, and the university has no official position.

Regardless, what can be gathered is that, like other aspects of Temple, our commencement tradition may be at the end of an era.
Last May, President Ann Weaver Hart asked a committee to examine the process used to select commencement speakers, encouraging more focus on a student speaker, highlighted by last year’s address from Jameel Rush, a 2007 graduate who grew up in Temple’s shadow, came here and excelled [“N. Philadelphia native to speak at graduation,” Leigh Zaleski, May 1, 2007].

Although the Class of 2008 may not have the pleasure of partaking in the longtime Temple tradition of hearing from one of this country’s great 20th-century icons, the most important tradition we have witnessed at Temple is the tradition of change. The knowledge that what was there yesterday can be improved by tomorrow, and that we can carry that ambition for positive action long after graduation.

Sean Blanda can be reached at sean.blanda@temple.edu.

Graduation speaker announced

Floyd W. Alston will be the featured speaker at the university-wide commencement ceremony at the Liacouras Center on May 22.

Alston, a local business leader, will also receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the university, according to a university release. In 1990, Alston founded Beech Corp., a community development corporation that revitalized the Cecil B. Moore neighborhood. Alston’s contributions through Beech have created $200 million of private development in the neighborhoods surrounding Main Campus.

Alston, a North Philadelphia native, graduated from Temple in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He also served as president of the School District of Philadelphia and participated in numerous other civic organizations.

“Floyd Alston has been a catalyst for the kind of change that makes a real difference in the daily lives of Philadelphians, especially those who live and work in the community surrounding Temple,” President Ann Weaver Hart said in the release.

In 2004, Bill Cosby spoke at an event titled “Cosby 101,” where he promised to be at the freshman class’ graduation, which is this year. Temple spokesman Ray Betzner said that the university has no information on Cosby’s plans to attend the ceremony.

The university has awarded more than 800 honorary degrees in its 124-year history. During former president David Adamany’s six-year tenure from 2000 to 2006, only three honorary degrees were awarded. Ann Weaver Hart’s administration awarded its only honorary degree prior to Alston’s award in May at the 25th anniversary of Temple University Japan. That recipient was author and film critic Donald Richie.

Alex Irwin can be reached at a.irwin@temple.edu.

Cosby visit an Honors hoax

Subtle hints at a guest appearance from Temple alum Bill Cosby went out in an e-mail on the evening of March 31.

Sent only to students enrolled in the Honors Program, the e-mail told students to stop by the Honors Lounge in the Tuttleman Learning Center around 4 p.m. The e-mail read, in part, “A notable Temple alum, our guest has a special fondness for quirky sweaters and may or may not enjoy a certain wiggly and jiggly, brightly colored dessert item.”

Soon after 4 p.m. Tuesday, however, it became clear that Cosby was not coming, primarily because one student noticed a mannequin in the corner with a picture of Cosby’s face taped to it.

Students already in the lounge were initially skeptical about the e-mail. Though the message made it clear that the “V.I.P. will not be hanging around for too long,” many students who received the e-mail decided to take their chances and check anyway.

“It would have been an interesting thing to see an actual celebrity who graduated from Temple here” said Raymond Kuehner, a freshman biology major.

Trabs Gould, a sophomore political science and journalism major, reacted with excitement to the e-mail and said he assumed it wasn’t a joke.

“He is a Temple alum after all,” Gould said.

The ringleader of the prank made her appearance shortly after the designated meeting time. Amanda Garcia, a sophomore involved in the Honors Program, said she conspired with a fellow student and sent out the e-mail.

“I thought it would be a funny April Fool’s joke” Garcia said.

Though Cosby wasn’t coming, Garcia did prepare two dishes of green Jell-O for the inquiring students who did take the time to come out.

The Honors Program frequently does hold events open to the entire university community that actually occur. They recently held a “Teacher Talk and Tea Time” which was an opportunity for students to get acquainted with their new professors. They also participate in community service events and will be hosting the upcoming Honors Ball.

Chelsea Helion, junior psychology major, issued an ultimatum to the Honors Progam and the university.

“I refuse to graduate until I meet ‘the Cos,’” she said.
Greg Adomaitis can be reached at greg.adomaitis@temple.edu.

Bill Cosby’s fireside chat with College of Education postponed

Today’s ‘fireside chat,’ a forum for Temple education students to learn about issues facing future teachers – and highlighted by an appearance by university alumnus Bill Cosby – has been postponed.

Cosby had another scheduled event, according to Valerie Gay, director of Temple’s Development and Alumni Affairs. He asked for the event to go on as scheduled – without him – so a dialogue could be developed anyway, but plans to cancel the event were already underway, Gay added.

Cosby wants the events to be less about him than about the prospective teachers, she said.

Today’s event was scheduled for 4 p.m. and to be held in a room of the Liacouras Center. Another chat scheduled for April is still expected to run, in addition to another that might be added in March to replace this.

This was the second in this fireside series.

In other recent news, Cosby has announced his plans to release a rap album criticizing the genre, as reported by The Temple News.

Last fall, Cosby co-authored a book – called ‘Come on People’ – which offered his views and critiques of black American culture, a book reviewed by The Temple News.

He made a series of highly publicized media appearances to discuss the book, in conjunction with speaking on the issues he feels plague the black community, including an Oct. 18 plug on Larry King Live and one on Meet the Press on Oct. 14.

Cosby’s Temple appearances have been sporadic of late. He has not appeared at a Temple graduation ceremony or held his once-thought-to-be annual “Cosby 101″ since January 2004 allegations that he sexually harassed a former Temple employee.

Christopher Wink can be reached at cwink@temple.edu.

Bill Cosby isn’t speaking to us anymore

Despite repeated attempts to ask for an interview with Temple alumnus, booster and Board of Trustees member Bill Cosby, we, the 86-year-old newspaper of the community for which he is, invariably, the most public figure, haven’t heard back.

Even though we want to promote his new book, “Come on People,” which The Temple News reviewed without him last month.

Since the January 2004 sexual harassment allegations by a former official of Temple women’s basketball program, Cosby has only been on campus representing Temple officially twice, by my count.

Once for a small College of Education movie screening during September of last year and then in the wildly public announcement of the football team’s new uniforms last April when he dressed up in a throwback jersey and leather helmet.

He spoke to the track team before last year’s season, as reported by The Temple News, and has friendships with a handful of Temple administrators and staff, but beyond that, we get the feeling the Cos is rethinking his ties to this school.

Indeed, since those allegations, he hasn’t spoken at a Temple graduation, once a tradition, and hasn’t held “Cosby 101″ for incoming freshman, both of which he last did in 2004. He has spoken at other university’s commencements, though, as reported by The Temple News.

For that new book, which came out in October, I don’t need to mention that it burned to see Bill Cosby wearing a University of Massachusetts shirt in the book flap photo of him, seated alongside co-author Alvin Poussaint, even if Cosby went to graduate school there.

Now, to be fair, we haven’t been told no, but, it is tough to think so many emails and phone calls have been … misdirected. Come on, Bill, you’ll talk to the freakin track and field team, but not us?

Christopher Wink can be reached at cwink@temple.edu.

Come on, Bill: a review of Bill Cosby’s “Come on People”

It was around 2004 and the 50th anniversary of the Brown versus Board of Education Supreme Court decision that Bill Cosby began his transformation from legendary entertainer to third rail.

“People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads,” he said addressing an audience in Washington back in the summer of 2005. “The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting.”

He has taken an active role in criticizing the shortcomings of black American culture, in the parenting, lifestyles and priorities. For it, he has gotten the Huxtable beaten out of him from black leaders, progressive whites, race commentators and activists of every other size, agenda and caliber.

He has tried to develop dialogue, through his discussions and speeches, even his Web site.

The thing is, news about Bill Cosby, who first went to Temple in the 1960s before leaving to pursue his comedy career, is intensely important to any Temple student worth the Hooter in their heart. And, you gotta at least respect someone for thinking an issue so important that he bets his career, his reputation is worth risking. The Cos has done both, news and risk, again.

Last month, Cosby and his longtime collaborator Dr. Alvin Poussaint, a Harvard professor of psychiatry, put out their latest attempt at enacting change, this a book from the world’s largest Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson, called “Come on People.”

The book is full of the things he has been saying in interviews and town hall meetings, at conferences and during speeches. Unabashed criticism for a sometimes undefined segment of the black population.

“…Black English in school and on the job gets the user nowhere,” Cosby and Poussaint wrote wrote.

For criticizing black slang, in addition to hip-hop music, materialism and other plagues they see in black culture, Cosby has been derided as a sell-out, his very authenticity as a black man questioned, despite his North Philadelphia upbringing, his seminal place as a black entertainer, and the reality of the place he seems to direct his words: the black community, not mainstream whites, as some have criticized his tenets most serve.

“When African Americans are committed to something, they make it happen,” he and Poussaint wrote. “The civil rights bills did not pass just because white people decided it was an idea whose time had come. We made it happen.”

“We all have some piece of Frederick Douglass in us… a slave wanting to read…” they continued.

Still, the criticism comes.

“While I don’t question his love for black people, his recent actions have appeared more venomous than valuable,” wrote Marc Lamont Hill, a professor of education at Temple, in the Baltimore Sun last month. “More condescending than caring and more hateful than helpful.”

At times, ‘Come on People‘ reads like an instruction manual – including things like advice about getting finances in order – but it is tough to believe those they hope to convince are going to read it. Community meetings might be a better forum, and I would be surprised if the Cos and his Harvard M.D. buddy didn’t realize. I suspect ‘Come on People’ is a way for him to promote his message, to get gigs on “Meet the Press,” as he did Oct. 14, and “Larry King Live” and other talk shows, as he has.

When this movement of his began back in 2004, Cosby told CNN that, “this is about little children, and people not giving them better choices.”

I can believe it. And, like most who aren’t living in the Richard Allen projects or Norris Homes, I agree. But what might matter most is the progress Cosby is making, which, sadly, appears to be not much. He hasn’t brought on enough high-profile black Americans to his side. Perhaps for the same reason his mission hasn’t caused much more than criticism. His influence may be waning, inching one of the most important, most iconic, most impersonated entertainers from the 20th century towards irrelevance.

Christopher Wink can be reached at cwink@temple.edu.

As season nears, team looking to follow advice from ‘the Cos’

Prior to its outdoor season, the track and field team received a pep talk from an unlikely speaker.

Temple alum Bill Cosby, a former track and football athlete, spoke to the entire team, which has the Owls determined and excited for the outdoor season.

“He told us to be proud of ourselves and he inspired us to keep improving and show
other people what you can do,” sophomore Amanda Cole said.

The outdoor track and field season was supposed to get underway Saturday, but the Owls did make their scheduled trip to Radford, Va., where the Radford Early Bird Invitational went on as scheduled without the team.

The Owls will open their outdoor season this Saturday as they split up to head to the Monmouth Invitational, in West Long Branch, N.J., and the Towson Open, in Towson, Md.

Expectations are high for the Owls, at least by the teams’ own standards.

Coach Stefanie Scalessa said one of the main goals for both squads will be to build upon the results of last season by improving in all events.

The men’s team finished eighth of 10 teams at the Atlantic Ten Conference Championships meet last season. The women’s team finished ninth of 11 teams. Scalessa said there is room to grow.

“I would expect that we will keep building on where we were last year,” Scalessa said. “And to keep continuing to get better and start to show athletes in events that we haven’t had athletes in before.”

Hoping to help lead the Owls’ improvement is Joshua Louis, a sophomore who competes in high jump and numerous hurdle events, including distances of 110 and 400 meters.

Louis said that the 400-meter hurdles is not one of his favorite events, but that he is willing “to do anything to help out the team.”

Louis was named the Most Outstanding Rookie of the A-10 Indoor Track Championships, held in Rhode Island earlier this winter.

At the meet, Louis won the high jump event by clearing a height of 6 feet, 7 inches. He also placed ninth in the 55m hurdles with a time of 7.92, as the men’s team finished in eighth place.

Louis improved on that jump at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes Championships meet, clearing a height of 6-8. Temple finished 46th out of 53 teams in that meet.

Louis said he could see the men’s team improving upon past results.

“As far as the A-10 Championship, we should definitely be one of the top three teams in the conference if we just go out there and do our best,” Louis said.

On the women’s side, Cole is looking for the same type of results.

Cole participates in weight throw as well as shot put, discus and hammer throw. During the indoor season, Cole broke her own school record in weight throw with a distance of 52 feet, 3/4 inches.

Just like many of the other Owls, improvement is a key aspect for Cole.

“I am just trying to go out there and improve myself,” she said. “I’ve been staying focused in practice and have been doing my drills and conditioning and keeping my eye on my goals.” The sophomore wants to help the team improve as much as possible, while also trying to break her weight throw record in the near future.

At the A-10 Indoor Track Championship, Cole placed fourth in shot put with a heave of 39-10 1/2, as she helped the women’s team finish eighth at the meet.

The outdoor season has the Owls making stops throughout the east coast, including College Park, Md., Durham, N.C. and Princeton, N.J., among other cities. The Owls only scheduled meet in Philadelphia is the Penn Relays on April 26-28.

Kevin Smiley can be reached at kevin.smiley@temple.edu.

Bill Cosby to lay it down, a hip hop album

Temple’s favorite alumni and Board of Trustees member Bill Cosby is planning to release a hip-hop album titled State of Emergency, according to AllHipHop.com. Cosby, 70, has spoken out against vulgar rap music in the past, but his album is reportedly clean and issue oriented.

This album will be the Cos’ 35th to date.

Alex Irwin can be reached at a.irwin@temple.edu.

A movie with a “Cos”

An interesting exchange of dynamics emerged as Bill Cosby headlined his first university affiliated appearance since declining invitations to speak at the 2005 and 2006 commencement ceremonies here. The Department of Education hosted the event at McGonigle Hall Sept. 12.

Cosby promoted a PBS documentary titled, “The Boys of Baraka,” before a group of about 200 people. The film intends to educate future teachers and political advocates.

Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady use the real-life stories of four youths from Baltimore, to highlight the challenges faced by students in inner-city public schools.

PBS chose Cosby as a leading advocate of education to endorse the film at screenings across the country. Temple was the next stop on the tour.

“This film, I take it and put all the weight on myself, because [when I saw it], I thought of you guys in the School of Education,” Cosby said. “I feel like when you see this, it will change your life drastically.”

The documentary follows Richard, Romesh, Montrey and Devon, 12- and 13-year-old boys, who sign up to spend two years studying at the Baraka School in Kenya. A radical alternative to the Baltimore public school system, the school serves troubled youths from poverty-stricken situations, helping them refine skills in conflict resolution and giving them the one-on-one attention they need to succeed academically.

Cosby said he has seen the film screened 30 or 40 times for children in cities across the country, and regardless of the audience it was played to, the viewers were moved emotionally.

Whether they related with the “Baraka Boys” or not, he said they came away inspired.

Temple students were no different.

“It was life-changing,” said Ariela Rose, a freshman elementary education major. “It makes me want to teach and touch the lives of kids in these situations.”

Rose sat with fellow freshman education majors Reilly Fies and Melissa Marsili during the screening. They all expressed a fresh understanding of the challenges children face in inner-city schools.

Rose said it made her much more aware of the advantage she has.

“For people like us, going to college wasn’t even a decision we had to make,” she said. “I always knew I would go.”

Cosby targeted students like Rose, Fies and Marsili in his address.

“I hope you will study harder, not just to pass, because what kind of teacher would that be?” he said. “You are not to come out of this school frightened.”

Not everyone in the diverse crowd was unexposed to the issues of poverty and educational barriers that face inner-city youth.

Brenda Washington, 42, an employee of the Department of Planning and Design for Facilities Management, said the film touched topics that were familiar to her and actually left her with more questions.

“It was very touching. The program was excellent, effecting a change in the kids,” Washington said. “It was phenomenal. I want to know if there is something comparable for young women.”

Still, she contends that the “Baraka program” has the right idea, focusing their attention on educating young, black men.

“The thrust should be there. Black men are an endangered species,” she said.

As for the relationship between Cosby and the university’s administration, it was light and polite.

Comedic banter kept controversy out of the spotlight, such as the January 2004 allegations that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a former official of Temple’s women’s basketball program at his Cheltenham home.

In her introductory comments Hart said, “Dr. Cosby has come today to exercise his strong commitment to education in another way.”

Behind her, Cosby rubbed his fingers together, a nonverbal gesture indicating his financial support. The audience laughed.

Hart, shaken but not stirred, responded, “He makes this very difficult. I feel like there is text running behind me or something.”

Cosby then turned his chair, faced his back to the audience and made himself the obligatory kid-in-the-corner.

Still, it did not go unnoticed that when Hart invited Cosby to sit with her for the screening, Cosby declined and waited backstage.

Cheryl Ellis can be reached at cellis24@temple.edu.

Next Page »