Law professor describes excellence

    115

    By CARMEN DURLAN

    Students can achieve excellence by using their values and education to help others, said a BYU law professor Thursday in his speech for the Paradigms of Excellence series.

    Larry Echohawk said excellence should be pursued by all people no matter what their background. He used examples from his life to demonstrate how he has conquered his challenges.

    Echohawk, former attorney general of Idaho, said as a youth he had no expectations to go to college or serve in public office. Before his election, there had never been an American Indian elected in a state-wide, state-constitutional office in the history of the United States.

    While running for attorney general, a political analyst said Echohawk started with three strikes against him by being “a Mormon, an Indian and a Democrat.”

    Echohawk said his heritage is a barrier that should not exist. People should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character, he said.

    A higher education will give you the power to change others’ lives, Echohawk said. “There is no higher calling in life than to use what you have to help others around you.”

    Echohawk feels that his and his siblings’ successes are due to the values they were taught.He credits his mother, who “empowered her children with a thirst for education.”

    This was the first in the Paradigms of Excellence lecture series sponsored by BYUSA. BYUSA chooses speakers who have standards of excellence to motivate students to achieve excellence, said Michael Atkinson, BYUSA’s executive director over multicultural and international students.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email