Archdeacon
Against that backdrop, Thomas’ parentsworked an 80- acre farm near the unincorporatedcrossroads of Calhoun in Lowndes County, which is between Selma and Montgomery. They raised four children.
“My parents worked in the fields and dealt with the tumultuous battle of Civil Rights,” Thomas said. “I was a littleboywhenDr. Kingwas killed, but I remember it.
“And I remember asking my mother years ago, ‘With all the things going on in L own des County and Montgomery and Selma — and you in the midstofit— howdidyoueven continue to go on?’
“My mother said, ’Well, I knew at some point that somebodywould survive. We were hoping that our children would, even if we didn’t.”
Although Thomas’ oldest brother died in a car accident at 25, he, his sister and another brother did survive and thrive.
“At anearly agemymother said to me: ‘Iwant you to finish high school and go to college. Somebody needs to do something a little different from what your father and I have done.’”
And Thomas certainly listened to his late mother:
■ He was a high school cross-country and track standout—specialized in the 800 meters, 1,500 and mile relay — and that got him a partial athletic scholarship to Alabama A&M.
■ He was even more impressive in the classroom and after getting an English degree, hewent on to get his master’s atVirginia StateUniversity
and a PhD in English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
■ He became a college educator and administrator, including being the interim president at Maryland Eastern Shore and at MiddleTennessee State and then serving as the president ofWestern Illinois University from 2011 to 2019.
■ He’s an author. His “Within These Gates,” abook about academic work and leadership, was published in 2015. He’s now working on a second book about some of the racial challenges he’s experienced.
■ He’s a preacher. He became an ordained Baptist minister five years ago — he was licensed in 2005 — and already has drawninterest fromchurches in Cincinnati, Dayton and Cleveland once we get through these COVID times.
■ He’s most proud that he is ahusband— married to Dr. Linda Thomas (also of LowndesCounty) for34years– and has sons who are 28 and 25.
■ And July 1 he took over from Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond as CSU president.
“After being at two PWI (Predominately White Institutions) it feels good to get back to an HBCU,” he said. “With all the knowledge and experiences I’ve been through, it’s prepared me well to be a better leader.
“Some of the experiences were good, some were not, but I believe in learning from all of them and making the best from it.”
While there were some bumpy spots in hisWestern Illinoistenure, therewerealso notable accomplishments and he’ll need to draw on everything for these times, which he calls both “unprecedented and uncertain.”
We’re in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately has hit people of color and also has laid siege to some area colleges that have brought students back to campus, none more so than the University of Dayton, which as of Sept 1, hadhada state-high 970 COVID cases in 22 days.
There’s also the push for social justice that is roiling across the nation. After several unarmed Black people have been killed by police — or, in the recent Kenosha, Wisconsin case of Jacob Blake, shot seven times and left paralyzed—there have been protest sand a Black Lives Matter push.
Those gatherings have, at times, been co-opted by rioters and looters, aswell as by weapons-carrying right wing agitators, one ofwhomkilled two people and wounded another in Kenosha.
Thomas understands the frustration and anger of protesters:
“WhenI look at theGeorge Floyd situation and Breonna Taylor and the recent incident, it just keeps going on and on and doesn’t stop. It’s almost becoming the norm and that’s what is scary.
“It’ s gotten to a point where people are saying ‘No more! We’re not taking it anymore. We’re standing up!’... I’m not for the violence and looting, butAmericahas to pay attention to what people are saying and set the tone for our nation.”
Thomas said he’s long believed education is the key that best helps people facilitate change.
Withthatinmind, he’shoping to make Central State “a special place.”
He has put out a list of nine goals he hopes toaccomplish at the school, including startingan Honors College to bring in “the best and brightest,” someofwhom, henoted, are already at the school.
To help launch a presidential scholarship, he just donated $50,000 of his salary. That sum was matched and now he’s begun a campaign to raise $1 million for the program.
‘Was just the norm’
When Thomas was a little boy, JimCrow laws ruled his county.
“I went to a segregated school,” he said. “The text books I got already hadwriting in them. They camefrom the white schools. I didn’t knowany different. Thatwas just the norm.
“My parents shelteredme from all the racism, hatred and discrimination and I don’ t remember being called the N-worduntil Iwas in college.”
Even though he was protected, lifewas stilldifficult in Lowndes County, were 80% percent of Blacks livedbelow the poverty level.
To help the people exercise their right to vote, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization was launched and led by the young civil rights leader, Stokely Carmichael. The group became the first independent Black political party in the county since Reconstruction and they adopted the black panther as an emblem.
“People think the Black
Panthers started in Oakland, California, but they actually started in LowndesCounty,” Thomas said,
Fast forward to 2004 and Thomas’ sister, Helenor Bell, became the first Black femalemayor ofHayneville, the county seat.
“My dad didn’t want her to run because he was afraid somethingwould happen to her,” Thomas said. “And her life was threatened, but she stood up to the challenge.”
As for Thomas, he used athletics as his vehicle and atA&Mhe began the lifelong friendship with his coach, Dr. Joseph Henderson, who he said still serves as “a second father” to him.
Thomassaid the sports lessons he learned long ago — the determination, the will to win— still guide him through his life today and especially in the way he deals with the students under his purview.
But when it comes to Marauders athletics this fall, all that is on hold.
CSU, in conjunction with its governing Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, has canceled all sports until the new year. Football is mothballed and basketball won’t start until January if an abbreviated schedule can be worked out.
“Of course it bothers me that we can’t compete,” Thomas said. “But first and foremost, we have to make sure our students are safe and we protect them.”
Challenges ahead
When Thomas and I met, itwas the first day freshmen were allowed to move onto campus. Upperclassmen will follow this weekend.
Everyone, including the two family members allowed with each student, waswearing masks. They underwent initial temperature checks and were social distancing as best they could.
Classes will start Sept. 8 and for a week they will be online asmany students, faculty, staff and administrators are tested for the coronavirus. After that there will be a hybrid on instruction, with about half the classes online and half in-person.
Thomas believes the school can control the situation because it is “a small university in a rural setting” and because, he hopes, students buy into what’ s at stake.
They knowpeople of color have been hit harder by the virus and they also understand the family-like embrace and nurturing that comes at an HBCU.
“If our students don’t handle it, then follow other institutions and be back fully online,” he said. “But with all the challenges we have, I think we have an opportunity to do wonderful things here this year.”
That’s kind of been the theme of his life, too.
As he sat in his office, he had a small stack of “Within These Gates” on the corner of his desk.
Whenyou opened a book, you saw his dedication: Formy mother Mrs. Eleanor“Bay” Thomas. When I mentioned it, the emotion showedinhis voice:
“It almost brings tears to my eyes even when I say that now. She passed before I actually finished the book, but she’s the one who instilled in me to get a college education.
“And now I’m saying, ‘Mama, I did what you told me to do!’”