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Malique Lewis has wasted no time since becoming the vice president for diversity and inclusion in Syracuse University’s Student Association this semester. Two weeks ago, the sophomore spoke at the opening event for 119 Euclid Ave., a brand new student center dedicated to celebrating Black culture at Syracuse University.

Lewis wanted to create a space on campus where everyone can feel comfortable, he said.

“My goal is to highlight the uniqueness that everyone has and fix the problems that people may have and bring it to administration so we can work together to create positive change,” Lewis said.

The SU sophomore is a Posse scholar from Miami. Before beginning at SU in the fall 2020 semester, Lewis participated in organizations that helped him build leadership skills and his confidence. He said as soon as he got nominated for the Posse scholarship, he knew he wanted to come to SU to leave his mark here. Since beginning here, he has navigated campus as a musician and member of the Student Association.

When Lewis arrived at SU, he said it was tough to get involved in organizations on campus due to COVID-19 making classes and events virtual. So he worked on his other craft for captivating his audience: making music.

The sophomore has been writing his own rap and hip-hop music since he was in seventh grade, and he had his first live performance in high school during his sophomore year. Lewis said he performed in front of hundreds of students at the event.

“I have talent. I might as well show it,” Lewis said. “I can’t be scared. My performance was pretty good, but it wasn’t as good as it is now. It’s about trial and error.”

His love of performing followed him past graduation and led him to perform for SU students in April at a live student concert hosted by University Union. Lewis said he remembered jumping at the opportunity upon receiving the email from UU looking for students to participate.

For Lewis, music is a meditative experience and presents another medium through which he can express his desire to make an impact.

“Making music that’s inspiring, it‘s one of my favorite hobbies,” Lewis said. “It taught me courage and that anything is possible.”

Keith O’Brien, a mentor from Lewis’ time in high school with the group 5000 Role Models of Excellence, said the SU sophomore wants to learn everything. “He’s not really a person that can be pinned down,” O’Brien said.

Long before Lewis first stepped foot on campus last year, Lewis began his community involvement. In high school at Miami Lakes Educational Center, Lewis started to consistently participate in social activism in the group 5000 Role Models.

Lewis credits the organization, a mentorship program founded in 1993 by then-Miami Dade County School Board member Frederica Wilson, for helping him build his confidence to pursue leadership positions. The project seeks to help young men become better leaders in society, Lewis said.

Lewis joined 5000 Male Role Models of Excellence his freshman year of high school before serving as vice president his sophomore year and president his junior and senior years.

“(5000 Role Models) changed my life, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it,” he said. “It taught me how to be the best version of myself.”

Through the program, Lewis and other members served as role models for students of color in kindergarten through high school, offering academic, career and life guidance, the program’s website said.

Surya Vaidy | Staff Photographer Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

Eventually, Lewis had the opportunity to attend a number of events representing the community, one of which was the 2019 Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., for which Lewis served as a guest speaker.

“It was a big deal, standing in front of thousands of people, a lot of them congressmen and women. I spoke about the potential we have to make our community — our country — great,” he recalled. “There were people crying in the audience. When you can make people cry, it hits home.”

Lewis continued to hone his public speaking skills through high school, and instead of attending his virtual graduation in 2020, he spoke at Hard Rock Stadium for the Police and Youth Conference. This annual event joins police officers with the members of 5000 Role Models, offering everyone a chance to come together and build relationships for the future and the members’ education, he said.

Since middle school, Lewis was involved in Upward Bound Math-Science, a Federal TRIO program at Florida International University providing federal outreach and student services for low-income and first-generation students. Here, he met one of his longtime mentors, Shadrack Joseph, who became director of the program toward the end of Lewis’s sophomore year of high school.

“Early on, we hit it off pretty well,” Joseph said of Lewis. “We were able to develop a good working relationship.”

Joseph offered academic and life advice through the rest of Lewis’ high school career, helping him apply for and receive a Posse Foundation scholarship and transition into college, he said.

As Lewis studies in Syracuse, he wants to stay in close contact with his 8-year-old brother who’s in Miami. Lewis is motivated to do great things and let his brother know about it so “he does even better than I am.”

Lewis said last year, he decided he wanted to take on a new leadership position. He met Justine Hastings, the SA president at the time, who told him the applications for cabinet positions were open for the following year. Lewis said he saw the cabinet position for diversity and inclusion and thought, “That position needs someone like me that sees the good in humanity.”

Ultimately, with everything he decides to undertake, Lewis wants to bring about change in any way that he can and most of all inspire, be it through his music or his plans with SA. He hopes to be a leader students can take pride in and plans to fight for students as much as he can, he said.

“I want people to feel that they have a home here,” he said.

Joseph said that Lewis is a good fit for the role.

“(He’s) really excited about the diversity and inclusion program,” he said. “He is not the typical teenager. He thinks different (and) he definitely has an old-man brain.”

O’Brien added that Lewis is a “deep thinker,” and he doesn’t accept anything at face value.

But Lewis just plans to let life happen on its own and let things flow.

“A lot of these things, they just occur. It’s why I don’t like to stress. When you put in the work, and remain focused, things just fall in your lap, and life just opens up opportunities for you.”

Published on September 28, 2021 at 12:28 am