FULLERTON COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

Dr. Terrence Roberts

Member, Little Rock Nine

Dr. Terrence Roberts was a 15 year old eleventh-grader when he joined eight other students and became one of the first nine black students to go to a formerly segregated public high school in Little Rock. With no support or protection from the governor, when the Little Rock Nine were allowed to enter the school, an enraged white mob began to riot. The students were escorted out, and for the next year, in spite of armed escorts, the students continued to be victimized by physical and verbal abuse.

 Following his graduation from high school, Dr. Roberts attended California State University at Los Angeles and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 1967. He attended graduate school at the University of California at Los Angeles and received a Master of Sciences in social welfare in 1970. In 1976, Roberts earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

 Dr. Roberts was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1958. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the members of the Little Rock Nine.

 Dr. Roberts currently serves as co-chair of the department of Master of Arts in Psychology Program at Antioch College in Los Angeles, California, and also teaches several graduate courses there. In addition to serving as CEO of Terrence J. Roberts and Associates Management Consulting Firm, he maintains a private psychology practice and is a desegregation consultant to the Little Rock School District, and provides similar services to school districts around the nation.