Everybody wants to hear what he has to say because he stimulates people to act to do things. That's one of his key motivations. He's a self-described pragmatist. He wants you to act. He wants to stir you up.

Cornel West bridges another gap between the intellectual elite and the masses of people that are struggling every day to sometimes get a job or get the kind of education that he got. He comes from the grassroots and relates back to that.

I've heard people say I was forced out -- I was not forced out. This was a voluntary act.

He bridges a gap between the generations and he makes an effort to reach out. He gets the message across about trying to build an extended family in the community rather than to have people pitted against one another.

(Coming) will improve (students') lives and the lives of others around them. (He's) someone that can add that kind of stimulation to the environment here.

We articulated what the center was (originally) going to be about. We saw it as a place where we could bring in speakers like Cornel West to bring new ideas and stir people up a little bit to create social change.