Tavis Smiley returns to IU a success

Tavis Smiley doesn’t have a speech prepared. \nAll he knows is he’ll return to Bloomington on Saturday to give the commencement speech to the graduating class of 2007. \nSmiley said he doesn’t speak from a prepared text because he seeks to connect with audience members. Giving the same speech doesn’t allow for that to happen, he said. Instead, he describes Saturday as a “homecoming.”\nUniversity Chancellor Ken Gros Louis remembers the phone call he made to Smiley to invite him to be the 2007 graduation speaker. President Adam Herbert asked Gros Louis to make the call, knowing how close the two were when Smiley interned at Gros Louis’ office. When the alumnus returns to campus this time, he’ll have more than $35, a suitcase and his acceptance letter, which is what he had when he came to IU in the 1980s. \nWith no dorm assignment, no books, no family support and “no nothing” as he said, Smiley describesdhis start at IU as meager. \n“It was just me sleeping on the floor of a dorm I later learned was Willkie,” he said with a laugh. \nDue to overcrowding in the residence halls when Smiley arrived, Gros Louis said he fit right in sleeping in the halls, as there were so many students it was difficult to keep track. Smiley eventually received a debate scholarship, which helped him pay his way through college.\nHowever, it wasn’t until he met the right people that his journey at IU really began, Smiley said. \n“You do not navigate a successful journey by yourself,” Smiley said. “I am going to talk about what it means to appreciate diversity. The persons who helped me get through (IU) were both white and black and they are all still my friends to this very day.”\nSmiley, a Kokomo, Ind., native, left IU in 1986 – the year he was to finish classes and earn his degree – to pursue work with Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. His intentions to return to Bloomington were strong, but Smiley chose to begin his career. \nSmiley is now the host of two talk shows: “Tavis Smiley” and “The Tavis Smiley Show,” on PBS and National Public Radio.\nSmiley finally earned his degree when Associate Dean of Academic and Fiscal Affairs Kurt Zorn arranged for Smiley to complete his degree by writing three papers about three of his books and the impact the books had.\nZorn, who was in Taiwan on business as of press time, expressed his fondness for Smiley in an e-mail.\n“He is an impressive person who has done many good things since leaving IU,” Zorn said. “I am glad to see he is coming back to be the commencement speaker.”\nWhile Zorn helped Smiley finish the rest of his degree requirements, Gros Louis awarded Smiley his degree in person at his Santa Barbara, Calif. home.\n“We met for lunch,” Gros Louis said. “I gave him his diploma and used all the language used during the ceremony, ‘by the authority invested in me by the Board of the Trustees ... ’”\nAs for his speech, Smiley said he will know when he takes the podium. However, he does know what he wants to base his speech on.\n“I want to talk about what it means to never give up and do whatever it is you set out to do,” Smiley said. “No matter how determined I was to get into IU, I would not have gotten in or out without the support from people.”\nSmiley said that when he was an IU student, he could never have imagined an African-American president, women’s basketball coach or men’s basketball coach at the University.\n“That is the kind of inclusion I could never have imagined as a kid,” Smiley said. “To come back and see what it means to appreciate the inclusion and diversity at IU – that is a hopeful sign.”