 "Photo: Nasif Azad")
University of Massachusetts alumnus Bill Cosby returned to campus on Friday to speak at a packed Student Union Ballroom.
The speech given by Cosby, who graduated from UMass with a doctorate in education in 1977, was about students suffering learning disabilities, though he refused to call it that, insisting on the more politically-correct title "learning difference."
"I've never called it a learning disability," Cosby, 68, said in his introductory remarks, which lasted less than five minutes before he opened the forum up to questions. "It's a learning difficulty...[and] it's up to you and the people with you to help understand how you learn."
Cosby, who resides in nearby Shelburne, also spoke about the learning disability suffered by his late and only son, Ennis, who was murdered while changing a flat tire at a Los Angeles highway stop in 1997. Before his death, Ennis was diagnosed with dyslexia.
"One of the greatest moments in my life was when Ennis came back from his testing and said, 'I'm dyslexic,'" Cosby said. "My wife and I said 'Thank God,' because we knew we could work from there."
Cosby then fielded questions from audience members for over an hour and a half, quipping, "I'm not a doctor, I'm not a psychologist, but I slept at a Holiday Inn once and I think that can help."
A common thread in several of Cosby's answers to questions centered around the perks of attending a junior college or community college, which he believes is a great tool for those who aren't ready to make the jump to a four-year college yet, or are struggling in college because of their learning disorder.
Cosby even went so far as to declare nearby Greenfield Community College, in Greenfield, to be "one of the best community colleges on Earth."
"Community college has a way of talking to you, lifting you, guiding you. Then you begin to feel special, like, yeah, I'm capable," Cosby said.
To one student, who Cosby urged to attend community college, he said "they're not ready for you yet. When you are, you're going to come in and bang down the door. You're going to hit the ground running, and you're going to feel good. You won't fail them, they will fail you."
Cosby was also critical of high school guidance counselors, referring to them at several times throughout the speech as being "not equipped," and "stuck in 1957." He used an example of a conversation he had with a husband and wife, both of whom were guidance counselors. When Cosby asked how their son was doing, they replied the he was "a mess."
"This is a counselor!" Cosby exclaimed. "They know nothing about ADHD, nothing."
Cosby was also asked about the difficulties in getting through to high school students, whom he claimed often turn to drugs and alcohol after struggling with academics and "feeling bad about themselves."
"Kids do listen if they know what you're talking about," he replied. As an example, he told about a disruptive student who is struggling in school but given medication to keep him from acting up in class.
"Everyone's happy, then he goes to take the test," he said. "He gets an F, but everyone's happy because he's not being disruptive."
Cosby also took a shot at the behavior of professors unfamiliar with learning disorders, saying "some of these professors playing dumb need to be slapped."
Finally, he closed the morning with a story about a friend of his named Etienne, who is of African and Haitian descent and who liked to play flute, despite having a brain tumor. When the tumor was removed, Etienne became 100 percent blind.
Etienne, as Cosby went on to tell, attended Bedford Community College, where he earned a 3.8 grade point average in what Cosby called "international something-rather." Etienne then applied to prestigious Tufts University, and during the interview process was asked what it was that Tufts could bring to him.
He reportedly replied that the university could provide him everything on an international level, citing his aspirations to go to law school and return to his native Haiti.
Etienne was then asked what he can bring to Tufts, which he responded, "Courage."
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