Presidential advisor speaks on campus

Campus celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement

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Danielle Gryckiewicz

Students race to talk to as many people to discover unique facts as part of Archer’s interactive presentation.

Danielle Gryckiewicz, Campus Life Editor

“Dare to be a dreamer, dare to stand alone.”

With those words, Dr. Ronaldo Archer began his speech to the Saint Francis University community.January 20, at 7:00 p.m. in the John F. Kennedy (JFK) auditorium.

Archer’s main purpose was to make everyone in the room aware that everyone is battling a different “storm” (Significant Trauma Overwhelming Reasonable Minds). His speech was extremely interactive.  He asked his audience to stand up and get up out of their seats in order to interact together.

Getting the audience to interact together allowed him to emphasize his main point: “TTP.” TTP means talk to people, and, if that doesn’t work, Archer says “TTMP” – talk to more people.

However, if each person takes the time to talk to another, everyone can understand and help each other through their storms.

“It’s amazing who is among you,” said Archer. “I’m perplexed with who is in this room; you never know who is next to you.”

He informed the Saint Francis University community about some of his hardships during his childhood: being born premature to a single mother, having a learning disability and stuttering disorder, and being molested. This series of traumas resulted in holding a gun to his own head at the mere age of ten.

In keeping with the theme of continuing MLK’s legacy, Archer focused on rising from hardships and achieving success despite obstacles and hardships.  Archer says the secret to any storm is to face it head on. In fact, he preached that before a breakthrough, it will feel like a breakdown.

Despite his hardships, Archer overcame the storms that he faced. Today, Archer is a best-selling author, business executive, NFL consultant, Military leader consultant, corporate leadership trainer, and a presidential advisor. Archer was awarded the Martin Luther King Leadership award after helping to transform third world nations from chaos to collaboration.

Archer left the audience with hope and inspiration, by explaining that it is okay to fall and fail. Archer strongly believes that if you fall on your back and you can look up, you can get up.