Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III kicked off the day’s events by giving a talk to students and faculty during a special All School Meeting in Cochran Chapel. The son of African American schoolteachers who taught for decades in the segregated schools of Birmingham, Alabama, Hrabowski shared his parents’ passion for education and pursued his own path in academia, which eventually led to his 1992 appointment as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), a position he continues to hold. This is an excerpt of his speech.