Oprah shares past, offers future enlightenment

MUNCIE — In kindergarten, Oprah Winfrey wrote a letter to her teacher explaining why she didn’t belong. Winfrey said it was because she knew so many big words.

“Hippopotamus. Mississippi. Shadrach. Meshach. Abednego,” the list read.

Young Oprah Winfrey was moved into first grade the next day.

The mass of students, faculty and other Hoosiers applauded the lady of the hour.   

Humoring his guest, David Letterman looked at Winfrey with a grin that often precludes one of his punch lines.

“That’s how I got into Ball State,” Letterman said.

The home crowd cheered its most famous graduate.

It was just one of many quips between the duo in the nearly 90-minute discussion as part of the Ball State University alumnus and television host’s David Letterman Distinguished Professional Lecture and Workshop Series Monday night at the university in Muncie, Ind.

Media queen and philanthropist Winfrey stepped onto the stage moments earlier, somewhat teetering in her pink pumps, her form-fitting vibrant red dress shining in the stagelight.  

“Whoa,” she roared to the crowd, throwing her arms into the air in welcome.

The power couple’s visit filled the  John R. Emens College-Community Auditorium and neighboring  John J. Pruis Hall, seating a combined total of nearly 4,200 people.

Letterman sat close to Winfrey, yet sometimes his presence was barely noticeable. He sat and listened, occasionally bobbing his crossed leg and exposing his powder blue socks.

Letterman spent most of the talk ushering the crowd through the states and cities of Oprah’s life — Mississippi, Milwaukee and Chicago.

She talked about her humble beginnings in rural Mississippi, an apartheid America, as she called it.

Her early life was filled with frequent beatings and abuse, something Winfrey said she had to learn to cope with.

“I never had therapy, but I did have the Oprah Winfrey Show,” she said. “Every one of these life experiences, when I started out on television, created such a bond of empathy with the audience.”

One of those viewers was Kathleen Schmaltz, a faculty member at Ball State. Weeks ago she waited for three hours to secure an event ticket.

“I liked her spirituality,” Schmaltz said. “She said that over and over, how if you don’t have spirituality, you don’t really have much.”

Her daughter-in-law Shelly, also a Winfrey fan, found her inspirational, and was pleased with Letterman’s handling of the discussion.

“I was impressed that he gave her the floor as much as he did,” she said.

For 25 years, Winfrey hosted the nationally televised show that ended in 2011. Since then, she has increased focus on her production company, television network and Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

Letterman said it was her academy that won his admiration. Winfrey said her passion for education came from a desire to affect real change.

“No problem will ever be solved unless you change the way people think about it,” Winfrey said. “The reason why I’m so involved in education, from the ground up, is because you just can’t write a check if you really want to see something done.”

In fact, Winfrey left Indiana on Monday evening and headed to her school in South Africa to teach her girls one final lesson, Life 101, before they graduate Dec. 1.

Attendee and Ball State freshman Rahissa James has watched Winfrey on TV for more than a decade.

“I’m a fanatic,” James said. “She’s just a really strong person to go through what she’s gone through and still be productive. It’s beautiful.”

After prodding by the university president to reach finish up, Letterman read audience submitted questions.

“What do you know for sure?” Letterman said, closing out the evening. 

“Every one of us comes to the planet Earth to make our mark,” Winfrey said. “And how you choose to do that is up to you, but knowing there is a mark to make is what is significant. And I’m still making my mark.”