While students and faculty alike had been disappointed by the last-minute cancellation of his scheduled talk last semester, they were rewarded for their patience with Dr.Cornel West’s visit on Sept. 11.

The talk was part of the college’s Call to Consciousness series of lectures.

“The call to consciousness has been such a great thing,” former ASSC president Jose Luis Sanchez said. “We have had great poets; we’ve had great orators…I think it’s one of the best things that’s happened, at least that I’ve seen that we’ve put…some capital to.”

Dr. West was introduced with quick talks by Nathan Jones and Skyline President Regina Stanback-Stroud, whom he referred to as his “dear sister president,” upon taking the stage. He announced that he would be conducting a Q&A; session afterward, and said that while he was not in a hurry, he would be leaving and going to see his mother in Sacramento as soon as the opportunity to exit arose.

West went on to ask four questions that he said he’d been struggling with all his life, which would shape the rest of his talk.

“How does integrity face oppression?

“What does honesty do in the face of deception?

“What does decency do in the face of insult?

“How shall virtue meet brute force?”

He told his story of where he’d been on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I happened to be in New York City the day those planes crashed into the towers,” West says.

He’d been at the top of the Marriot hotel in Times Square campaigning with Fernando “Freddy” Ferrer, who was running for mayor of New York City in that day’s election, which was later canceled. He saw the second plane strike.

“…I said to myself ‘my God, again. Another act of martyr-ism…Another act of brutality. As a black man in America, 400 years had already taught me to be on intimate terms with being unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence, hated for who I am.’”

West went on to address the issues facing the nation prior to and in the wake of the World Trade Center attack and address concerns and questions from the audience.

“Dr. West is such a poignant and charismatic speaker,” Amory Cariadus, director of student development, said. ”He really has a lot of good things to say. A lot of things that are really eye-opening, that really cause people to think…get us all to think outside of how we operate in our daily lives. So I think that’s the gift for our students here…just to provide them with an opportunity to think about the gift that they’re offering us and to reflect upon that and then move forward with however they want to deal with the information they were given tonight.”

West mentioned music teacher Kymberly Jackson by name and called on her from the audience during his Q&A; session, which she appreciated.

“I very much enjoyed the shout out,” Jackson said. “We only met maybe half an hour ago and I watched as he remembered certain folks’ names, not just mine, but some other folks as well, and included that in his lecture. Very personable…I dug that. I think the most powerful thing for me was to see my students stand up, say things and feel comfortable speaking. I felt some ownership in that.”

“Dr. West is such a poignant and charismatic speaker,” Cariadus said. ”He really has a lot of good things to say. A lot of things that are really eye-opening, that really cause people to think…get us all to think outside of how we operate in our daily lives. So I think that’s the gift for our students here…just to provide them with an opportunity to think about the gift that they’re offering us and to reflect upon that and then move forward with however they want to deal with the information they were given tonight.”