CEO says environment crucial for students

Meeting in a filled conference room in Yawkey Atheltic Center, CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation (MBC) Bill Strickland lectured Boston College students and faculty at the annual Chamber Lecture Series, presented by the Carroll School of Management's Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics. He spoke on his experiences as a community organizer for Pittsburgh's underprivileged community.

In the past, the Chamber Lecture Series has hosted high-profile speakers such as retired Marine Corps Commander and renowned author, Nathaniel Fick.

Manchester Craftmen's Guild (MCG), a division of MBC, is a prominent multi-disciplined, educational community for Pittsburgh's inner-city youth. MCG's primary objective is to strengthen culture, family, and confidence within the urban community.

Strickland started the MCG in 1968 while an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. Since then, Strickland has motivated countless children to graduate high school, and enroll in college or secondary education.

The organization boasts exceptional statistics for an operation based in an urban area. Nearly 90 percent of MCG's students obtain their high school diplomas, while over 80 percent matriculate to college or secondary education.

Strickland was awarded the MacArthur "Genius" Grant for his work with the MCG. The awarded fellowships are presented annually to established individuals who show creative promise in their future work.

Strickland's witty and enlightening presentation was accented by a variety of pictures. "People get tired of long speeches ... so I started taking pictures," Srickland said.

Strickland's lecture focused on breaking the barriers that society has placed on urban communities. "Don't give up on the poor kids," he said. "People are born into this world as assets, not liabilities." He said he wanted people to understand that poor African-Americans have a chance to move beyond the rough neighborhoods and prisons.

Strickland found inspiration in Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, which stands just outside of Pittsburgh. When he saw the house, he was taken aback by the light cascading throughout the structure. He said, "If I can get that light into my neighborhood, I'm halfway there."

With that inspiration in mind, Strickland said that creating a pleasurable atmosphere for students would have positive results. He said, "If you build prisons, you get prisoners." He said that if there was one thing the audience got out of his presentation, he wanted it to be the notion that environment drives behavior.

The MCG center in Pittsburgh is furnished with world-class art and daily deliveries of fresh flowers. He said, "People are a function of little things."

Strickland painted a picture of other public schools in Pittsburgh with garbage cans chained to the wall and bars over the windows. He questioned why this had to exist when Fallingwater stands only four blocks away.

MCG features programs in the culinary arts, pharmacy, and other trade skills. Citing a Hawaiian chef's visit to the center, Strickland said, "If you want kids to be in the world, you need to show them the world." The concept of immersion plays a central role in the way MCG conducts itself.

He said that society has the idea that poor people need to get the lesser things in life. Strickland said, "The only thing wrong with poor people is that they don't have money. ... [Luckily] that's a curable condition." At the center, the students receive gourmet food.

One of MCG's primary goals is to provide the students with the necessary skills to grow and develop themselves as people. He said, "If we've got thousands of kids with diplomas they can't read, we're not fine."

Strickland said that hope is the most important thing the center can give to its students. He said, "[We] can't teach kids algebra if they don't want to stay on the planet." The center teaches its students culture through music and art.

The center also features state of the art technology, thanks to a donation by Hewlett-Packard. Following this, Strickland displayed a slide depicting old computers. He said, "I keep this slide for nostalgic reasons ... and you never know when there's an Apple Computer representative in the crowd."

The center also features a world-class concert hall and a recording center constructed by engineers who worked with Paul Simon. MBC has since won four Grammy Awards for its center.

Strickland left the audience with a simple question. He said, "Why can't we have schools where kids are excited to go to?" This question, he said, was one nobody could answer.