Within five minutes of his speech concerning “The Next Century of Education and Service,” Cousin Jeff had to unbutton his suit jacket to continue his animated dialogue with the applauding students Sunday night at Lincoln Hall.

Cousin Jeff, formally known as activist Jeff Johnson, was the dynamic speaker chosen by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., to speak at their 21st annual “The Ritual.”

“It was quite true and I enjoyed it,” said Aquantonette Hull, senior in LAS. “He didn’t sugarcoat anything to spare anyone’s feelings.”

Ending the weekend with wise words encouraging black leadership and uplifting college students, Cousin Jeff added another learning experience for students.

The Ritual, a traditional ceremony that discusses issues within the black community and has previously featured Afeni Shakur and Minister Louis Farrakhan, became part of an even larger program this year to discuss the same issues but within a larger context – the “100 STRONG Student Leadership Summit” weekend.

The 100 Strong program was created to encourage black freshmen to get involved on campus and to show them available resources to help them throughout their academic career.

The African-American Cultural Center looked at the statistics and noticed that many black students don’t get involved until their last two years at the University, said Nameka Bates, assistant director at the Bruce D. Nesbitt African-American Cultural Center.

It serves as guidance for black students to help them deal with the struggles of being one of only 561 black students out of 7,172 this year and tries to prevent students from leaving due to feelings of isolation.

The weekend started with a play by the InnerVoices Social Issues Theater Friday night and will continue Monday with another talk with Cousin Jeff at Illinois Street Residence Hall at 7 p.m.

“One of the focuses of 100 Strong is to connect students with the Civil Rights past,” Bates said. “We feel like that they have kind of forgotten that piece of history.”

But Cousin Jeff said there is a reason for this.

“We’ve never had that conversation,” he said. “In a day, you do what you know.”

Cousin Jeff said that there has never been a concerted effort on the part of the civil rights generation to inform the current generation of its historical struggle.

“This generation has never had to face the same kind of overt racism that in many cases were the catalysts for many people being involved,” Cousin Jeff said.

Rhae Battles, a sophomore in LAS, said the concept of the 100 Strong Weekend was long overdue. The weekend included free tickets to the football game for anyone who attended the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics Diversity Tailgate.

“We (the black community on campus) don’t really do that much when it comes to celebrating the football games,” Battles said. “I think it was a good idea.”

She said she liked the games she has attended this year, but rarely sees groups of black students at games in the stands.

But this weekend, she enjoyed being surrounded by her black peers.

Christopher Chavis, senior in FAA and president of Alpha Phi Alpha said they chose Cousin Jeff this year because he can relate to the college generation, while providing a host of knowledge since he has an extensive resume, which includes working with BET, CSPAN, and CNN.

“I hope that students seek to educate themselves through different types of college programs such as this,” he said. “Because you don’t learn everything inside of the classroom.”

Bates hopes that students listen to Cousin Jeff’s speech and become leaders.

“There’s clearly a need to engage students in their responsibility as African-American students, not just on a predominantly white campus, but within the legacy of what it means to be a black intellect,” Cousin Jeff said.

“How does that translate into our organizations and how does that translate into how we utilize that to the degree to be able to affect change?” he added

He is excited about Monday’s dialogue with a smaller group of students.

“I want tomorrow to be productive from a standpoint,” he said. “I definitely want it to be more of a dialogue between me and the students who are there. Because to me, that’s the only way it becomes really helpful.”