Dr. Terrence Roberts, who was one of the "Little Rock Nine," the first group of black students to be formally integrated into a white school, visited Penn State Lehigh Valley Feb. 27 in honor of Black History Month.

Growing up in the 1950s in the south was not a positive atmosphere for the young black man. He dealt with racism on a daily basis, at a time when it was technically "constitutional" to discriminate. Roberts spoke to the public, students and teachers about his experiences of being on the cusp of a change in history. Roberts asked questions about how and why discrimination happened and told the audience he felt the impact of it as a very young man.

"I was frustrated," he said, "I wanted it to go away."

When Emmett Till was murdered for supposedly flirting with a white women, Roberts was scared, as he and Till were the same age.

"I learned the rules of segregation because I wanted to stay alive," Roberts said passionately.

When the Supreme Court heard the Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954, laws changed saying racial segregation was now unconstitutional. Roberts was charged, now having the law on his side. He was ready to make his mark in the world.

Soon after the law passed, the opportunity arose for black students to attend the all white school of Little Rock Central High.

Roberts remembered 150 kids volunteering for the opportunity, but by the time parents had their veto in parental permission, the number decreased drastically to 10. The 10th student, Jane Hill, was pulled from attending the school the night before the historical first day. Her father's job was threatened if she would attend. Even after not allowing his daughter to be educated at Central High, he was terminated from the company.

Roberts said his own parents were blue collar, working citizens, who instilled in him the love and passion of education. Roberts' parents taught him education was important above all else.

Roberts felt driven to attend the previously all-white school both because he had a passion for education and the law had been changed. Roberts was 15 at the time, attending Little Rock High School for his junior year.

"Even though our numbers were small, we excited a lot of people," Roberts said, adding, "Even the Governor."

Governor Orval Faubus, of Arkansas, sent the National Guard to only allow white students to enter the high school. It took efforts from the U.S. Army for the "Little Rock Nine" to be able to enter Little Rock Central High.

Inside the classes, white students would leave, not wanting to be in the presence of those who were "different." The students who stayed, proceeded to beat up on the new students. Roberts said those of Central would "make life so uncomfortable that we would leave, but we did not. We replied with nonviolence."

Roberts, along with the other eight students, were harassed on a daily basis.

Roberts said he chooses to live his life based on his choice and not on revenge or hate or bitterness of the awful way he was treated growing up.

He wanted to attend Central High for his senior year, but after Faubus closed down the school to any student, he went to California to continue his studies. He has since become a graduate of California State University at L.A., and UCLA, continuing on to receive his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He teaches psychology at Antioch University in Los Angeles.

Along with the students who made history, Roberts serves on the Board of Trustees for the Little Rock Nine Foundation, where they create educational scholarships, continuing to contribute to society.