“We need new leaders in this country. I hope I’m looking at them right now,” Dr. Calvin Mackie told students who were honored Tuesday at South Carolina State University’s annual Honors and Awards Convocation.

More than 900 students were acknowledged as S.C. State Presidential Scholars during the ceremony, receiving either bronze, silver or gold pins from interim President Dr. Leonard McIntyre. Shawn M. Blake and Gisel Brito were specially recognized for graduating with a 4.0 grade point average.

The New Orleans native Mackie is a successful author, motivational speaker and former Tulane University professor. Currently, he is a member of the Louisiana Recovery Authority board, which is leading the rebuilding effort following Hurricane Katrina.

Mackie admitted he had to overcome some immense struggles to get where he is today.

“Seventeen or 18 years ago, people would have bet against me speaking before honor students,” he said.

Mackie said a trip to Ghana spurred the spiritual renewal that spawned his success. In Africa, he was told stories about lions and cheetahs. Mackie said that while the lion is the king of the jungle, it fears the cheetah as a challenge to its supremacy.

He said when a lion sees cheetah cubs in the wild, the lion will kill them.

“From one cheetah cub to another, you can’t allow the lions to kill them,” he said to the crowd. He then asked, “Well, who are lions?”

Mackie said the metaphorical lions roaming in today’s world are not physical, but are based on perceptions. He said young people must fight against the notion that academic success is unpopular and the glorification of debauchery and money.

He also shared his own personal story with the honor students, hoping they would learn from his mistakes.

Like many young men, Mackie’s original dream was to play professional basketball. Much to his mother’s dismay, he hit the hardwood far more often than he hit the books. When a shoulder injury suddenly derailed his aspirations, his mother scolded him for not studying and offered some comforting words.

“Don’t worry about your shoulder, because you’re going to do more with your head than you ever will do with your feet and legs,” his mother told him.

Mackie decided he wanted to become an engineer, but still didn’t apply himself academically. When the time came to take the SAT, he fared poorly, scoring an 840.

However, that didn’t stop him from approaching the Georgia Tech tent at a college fair. After hearing of Mackie’s less-than-stellar performance on the SAT, the Georgia Tech recruiters refused to hand him an application and pointed him toward Morehouse College’s tent, he said.

He said he was placed into remedial reading at Morehouse, which prompted the ridicule of his fellow students. Mackie quickly realized he would have to work much harder to achieve his goals.

“When you get behind in a race, you’ve got two choices: run faster or quit,” he said. Mackie choose the former and eventually received a doctorate from the institution that originally rejected him, Georgia Tech.

Mackie has also been successful as an inventor, receiving a patent for a device to retrofit luggage stowbins on Boeing airplanes.

In 2003, he received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from President George W. Bush. Mackie has won other national and organizational awards as well.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060.

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