Voorhees College News August 11, 2017 Voorhees holds its Legacy Dinner for the Class of 2021 Voorhees College held a legacy dinner for the class of 2021 centered on the formula of success to prepare the freshmen for their matriculation. This year's legacy dinner featured keynote speaker James Ross, a 2006 Voorhees College graduate and current assistant professor of finance at Voorhees. His speech was based off of five elements from his success formula. Ross said the formula to success is for a person to have consistency, fire, effective decision making, networking skills, and accountability. He said that often a person must stay consistent when they are on the right path to avoid setbacks and going in other directions. "Find what works for you and stick to it and aim to get better at it," Ross said. The second element to the formula was fire. Ross said people need to have passion and drive for the things that inspire them. The third element was effective decision making. He explained that students may find themselves in situations where making the right decision will affect the outcome of a bad situation turning good or a good situation turning bad. Networking skills is the fourth element. He said that students need to get out in the world and meet other people and grow their networks. "You never know who will need to help you advance in your career and networking allows you to market yourself and learn about other people," Ross said. Accountability is the last element of the success formulas that Ross talked about. "Accountability is key because everyone makes mistakes but in order to grow from them you must be able to admit to the mistakes and take ownership of things that go wrong," Ross said. President W. Franklin Evans addressed the class of 2021 about a new campus mentor program he has designed to pair freshman students with various selected staff members to create a mentor group. He said the purpose of this initiative is to provide freshmen and transfer students with someone who will maintain daily contact with them, establish a meaningful bond, and commit to assisting them succeed at Voorhees. "Since we are still educating a large majority of "first-generation students," we have to be deliberate and proactive in meeting students at the level in which they come to us and then provide the nurturing and support necessary to help them "fit in" within the confines of this new environment and culture we call Voorhees College," Evans said. For more information, contact Megan Freeman, director of communications, at 803-780-1191 or at mfreeman@voorhees.edu<https://webmail.voorhees.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=L8o2vgd842Di-fkXv1wNKQq2rM-tJ32mylRj_7YreSrV9LKBCOHUCA..&URL=mailto%3amfreeman%40voorhees.edu>. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/