If you don’t recognize the name Eric Thomas, there is a good chance you would recognize his voice. 

Eric Thomas has become world-renowned from his motivational videos on YouTube.  

ET, as he is better known, travels across the world speaking to organizations, corporations and students. Oakland University was lucky enough to be a stop for ET on Thursday, Feb. 12.  

Being a Detroit-area native, Thomas was familiar with Oakland University and was willing to work with the event organizers to come and speak.

Omega Psi Phi fraternity president Aukury Cowart and president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Bryan Johnson, drafted a proposal explaining to Thomas their mission and how they thought he could help. Thomas was so willing that he brought his price down in order to come speak to Oakland students. 

“We thought his story and message, and the way he delivers it would relate to the student body,” Cowart said. 

Wearing a 59FIFTY hat and a hoodie bearing the phrase “average skill, phenomenal will,” Thomas stood in front of a packed room of Oakland students. The high-energy delivery of his message had members of the audience yelling out in agreement. 

“We have a lot of students who start to slack off second semester,” Johnson said. “Listening to some of the things he has to say, his story is very motivational. We were trying to communicate with the community.  Everyone can relate to someone who pulled himself up from nothing.”

Eric Thomas drew on his own experiences during his speech. Once a high school dropout, ET is now a self-made millionaire with a PhD. 

“I like options more than I hate school,” Thomas said. 

He never cared much for school. However, he realized that the more education he had, the less he could be held back. Each degree was a key to another door, and, as ET explained, he isn’t just opening doors for himself, but for anyone to follow him. 

The main point ET wanted to make during his speech was for students to take advantage of their time in college. 

“So many of you are in college to get a grade,” Thomas said. “Don’t waste your money. Learn.” ET encouraged students to think of the people who worked hard to give them this opportunity. 

During the question and answer segment of the presentation, Thomas was asked how he doesn’t become complacent. He mentioned all the people that came before him that went through hard times so he could have these opportunities. 

“MLK Jr. died so I could do this. So I can’t get complacent,” ET yelled. 

Johnson and Cowart worked hard to get Thomas here because they hoped it would serve a lasting purpose. They hoped this speech would be the mid-semester motivation students needed to continue to strive toward success. 

“It doesn’t take long for students to get worn down,” Cowart said.  “We also recognize the African American community has a low graduation rate.  We’re trying to reverse that for the better.” 

They hoped Eric Thomas would help them reach this goal because of his personal experience in breaking the cycle of his family struggles. After dropping out of school and living on the streets, Thomas refused to be another statistic. He encouraged the audience to break the cycle in their families, too.

“The main message I got from this speech was no matter where you are right now, if you put in work and you actively work to develop yourself you can get to where you dream about,” Johnson said.