Courtesy of GSU Communications
Huston-Tillotson University President and CEO Dr. Melva K. Wallace brought a sense of magic to the occasion Thursday morning during her keynote address for Grambling State University’s (GSU) 124th Founders Day Observance inside the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
The morning began with the traditional wreath-laying at the bust of GSU founder Charles P. Adams adjacent to Lee Hall, with Grambling State University President Dr. Martin Lemelle, Jr., and city of Grambling Mayor Alvin Bradley signing a proclamation making Nov. 1 the official Founder’s Day for 2025.
Two hours later, Wallace, a two-time GSU graduate, took the stage at the Hobdy Assembly and began working her magic at the program themed “Honoring Our Legacy, Building Our Future.”
Wallace opened her speech by talking of a birthday party she attended in her hometown of Grambling when she was 8 years old and hearing the word abracadabra for the first time during a magician’s performance.
“Years later, I learned the roots of that word abracadabra,” Wallace said. “It is defined as I create as I speak … and that’s when I realized the creation and innovation isn’t about magic. It’s about manifestation, about speaking what is, not as though it were but about believing in it until it becomes a reality. And for those of you who know the Lord, that is a biblical principle.
“And that, GramFam — abracadabra — is the Grambling way. See, the reality is, I didn’t learn that word abracadabra and the meaning of it truly the first time at that birthday party from that magician. I honestly learned it right here on these hallowed grounds right here at Grambling State University, the place where everybody is somebody, with a fee sheet. You know I know the deal.”
She then spoke of the vision that helped create Grambling State University itself.
“Grambling State University, where vision was spoken long before it was seen, where a group of ordinary people — farmers, preachers, mothers and dreamers — dared to create something extraordinary with nothing but faith, focus and a few wooden desks.
“Today, we gather here to celebrate those founders, those miracle workers who didn’t need a wand, a cape or a black top hat. They used words, work and willpower and just like that, with a ‘poof’ of perseverance, abracadabra — Grambling State University appeared — a light in north Louisiana that has never gone dim.”
Wallace said that when she began attending GSU, she didn’t realize she was walking into destiny.
“But Grambling knew,” Wallace said. “Grambling knows that in every student, there is brilliance waiting to be called forth. Waiting for somebody to say abracadabra and call down their dreams to become reality. From the dirt roads to the digital age, from chalkboards to global impact, Grambling has always created as she spoke.
“When they said there was no room for Black teachers, Grambling said abracadabra and built a teacher’s college. When they said we couldn’t build champions, Grambling said abracadabra and sent legends to the NFL, the NBA, the MLB and the Olympics, thereby earning the title of “‘From The Cradle, To The Pros,’ and ‘The Black Notre Dame.’ When they said excellence can’t come from the piney woods, Grambling said abracadabra and produced doctors and judges, scientists and journalists, CEOs, corporate presidents and yes, even university presidents. And you’re looking at two right here on the same stage today.”
Wallace then told the crowd that was the legacy they should celebrate on Founder’s Day.
“Not sleight of hand, but strength of purpose,” Wallace said. “Not illusion, but illumination. And like the founders, we too are called to create as we speak, to speak possibility over our future, to say out loud that Grambling will not only survive, but soar. When I walk across this campus I see evidence of that power. New programs in the cybersecurity age, a top-notch nursing department and digital media, a World-Famed Tiger Marching Band that continues to move to the beat of excellence and electrify audiences and carry the Tiger spirit wherever we go as evidenced last week in Las Vegas.”
Then Wallace issued a charge to every student, staff member, faculty member, alum, friend and supporter.
“Keep speaking light into this place,” Wallace said. “Keep believing that what we declare with purpose will manifest with power. Keep creating as you speak, not for a cause, but for legacy.”
Wallace then looked to the future.
“When the history books are written, let it be said this generation — our generation — didn’t just inherit the vision of Grambling’s founders, we expanded it,” Wallace said. “That we took their words of faith, unity, excellence and said abracadabra, all over again. And why? Because we owe it to our families, our parents, and more importantly, to Grambling State University. We owe it to Booker T. Washington who sent Charles P. Adams to a small, rural town in north Louisiana to start an agricultural and industrial school for African Americans. We owe it to Charles P. Adams, who founded what was then called The Colored Industrial and Agricultural School and served as its president for 36 years.
“We owe it to the second president — Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones — under whose leadership saw (the school’s) name changed to Grambling College. We owe it to legendary Coach Eddie Robinson, who became the winningest coach in all of football history. We owe it to Paul ‘Tank’ Younger, the first NFL draftee from this institution. We even owe it to business mogul Thomas Moorehead, who recently [entered into a 10 million dollar partnership] with the [College] of Business.”
Wallace then also invoked Cardi B., whose “Bodak Yellow,” has been famously performed by the World Famed Tiger Marching Band during events like the Celebration Bowl and also visited the university’s campus in 2018 for a joint event with Atlantic Records during that year’s Homecoming celebration, as well as former GSU theatre major Erykah before becoming a Grammy-nominated singer and writer, as others owed by GramFam.
“And yes, we owe it to my brother and our current president Dr. Martin Lemelle, Jr. for saying abracadabra and telling the world we are building,” Wallace continued. “We owe them all a great debt of gratitude that can only be paid by preserving their legacy through our commitment to excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.
“GramFam, I say to you abracadabra. Keep using your words to keep building, keep believing and keep blessing this sacred ground because as long as there is a Grambling State University, there will always be a place where everybody is somebody.”
