Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Elysia Shackelford Think Pink game attendee's.

    A conference was held in UDC's new state of the art media lab in discuss the importance of education in the new millennium with newly elected Board of Education President, Robert Bobb hosted by Dr. Gail Anderson Holness. The forum provided Bobb with the opportunity to share his views on the importance of education in the 21st century. Acting university president Stan Jackson introduced Bobb and gave kudos to Bobb whom he worked alongside for several years and stated he was humble and hardworking.

    Bobb expounded on the intricacies of his life and the role education played in his success. He told the story of his upbringing in rural Louisiana with parents who achieved only a fifth grade education and a grandmother who worked several jobs to help support his family. "When you were a young man in my neighborhood at the age of 15 you made one of [few]decisions. You either went to Angola Prison, went to the army, sugar cane field, or to the salt mines if you didn't finish high school," said Bobb.

    His parents ensured that he finished high school, and he then went on to work in a sugar cane factory." His friend soon convinced him to join him at Grambling State University the following semester. His father admonished him, "If you don't like college you can come back home. If you stay don't shame us, if you do don't come back home." He was the first male in his family to graduate high school and college. He earned a BA from Grambling State University and his MBA in business from Western Michigan University.

    In 2005 he completed the Broad Fellowship in urban education, an intense program focused on reforming urban school systems. Bobb believes that the poor academic showing among youths is are a result of a system that has failed time and time again. He said children have powerful minds it is the duty of educators to nurture the gifts of the next generation. Bobb wants to bridge the achievement gap and preparation gap in urban communities. "Studies show that African-American youths are falling behind Asians, Whites, and Latinos," he said. "We need education to make it in the 21st century. Education opens doors to endless possibilities and closes the door of ignorance."

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