A Gift of Presidential Proportions
Nobody understood why Bruce King took a job at the University of South Dakota. But the decision may have saved his life.
By Ibram Rogers
Some of his friends thought he was foolish to become the chief diversity officer at the University of South Dakota in March of 2005.
“Why South Dakota?” Bruce King says his friends would ask. “There aren’t any Black folk there.”
To them, the concept of a Black man from the South Side of Chicago moving to a state and working at a university that were both less than 2 percent Black was unthinkable.
However, after two tumultuous years, King now knows and advises “many of us need to start opening our minds and ourselves to new possibilities. Because you never know what kind of gifts you will receive in return.”
King received the ultimate gift for opening his mind — a second chance at life.
