Through Lambda Boule Foundation, Clark Kellogg, Ron Stokes seek to uplift Black youth
Ron Stokes has a direct understanding of what impact representation can have on a youngster.
A successful businessman with a degree from Ohio State after a four-year playing career for the men’s basketball team, Stokes would eventually blaze his own path. But when he was about to be a teenager, the Canton native didn’t see a lot of people doing what he aspired to become.
“Where I grew up in Canton, Ohio, I only knew really one person that had gone to college,” he said. “I was very impressionable at that time, so I know leadership is very important. I saw it and it made it real for me.”
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Now, Stokes is working alongside fellow Buckeye alumnus Clark Kellogg and a host of fellow members of the Sigma Pi Phi fraternity to try and affect that kind of change in the next generation. Both are part of Lambda Boule, the fraternity’s local chapter, and primary driving forces behind the Lambda Boule Foundation’s fundraising event that begins Sept. 12 and concludes with a live online auction and program Sept. 14.
Kellogg, who has been a member of the fraternity since 2016, will be a featured participant in the virtual auction that takes place Sept. 14 from 7-9 p.m. In addition to interviewing Charles Barkley, Kellogg has donated a Final Four experience at the CBS studios in New York City, where he is a longtime college basketball analyst.
The hope for this virtual auction, he said, is to enable Sigma Pi Phi to provide opportunities for scholarships and mentorships for Black youth. The first Greek-letter fraternity to be founded by African American men, Sigma Pi Phi was founded in 1904 and its members already have received college and professional degrees at the time of their induction.
“Our fraternity is heavily involved in supporting that type of work and serving in that capacity,” he said. “(The Foundation) generates funds for the purpose of supporting scholarship, mentor and career-guidance programs primarily for Black youth and the uplift and advancement of the Black community. That mentoring component is critical in addition to providing funds for scholarship and educational opportunities.”
Kellogg pointed to Stokes, who in addition to his business career provides in-game expert analysis for Ohio State men's basketball radio broadcasts, as an example of a prime example of the kind of success stories that come from such efforts.
“Being able to engage with our Black youth, particularly men, around the importance of education, the importance of achieving and goal-setting and being able to show them that there are countless examples of excellence and success in the business world,” Kellogg said. “We need other people. We all need other folks to help us be the best that we can be.”
Auction items include tickets to see Hamilton at the Ohio Theatre, an autographed Kellogg Ohio State jersey, four tickets near the Buckeyes bench for a home game at Value City Arena and more. Former Ohio State football player Archie Griffin, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, former Columbus mayor Michael B. Coleman and others will participate in the event.
Aside from the funds raised and opportunities that will hopefully come with them, Stokes said there’s one part he’s especially excited to experience.
“Hearing Clark and Charles talk, that in itself will be a treat,” he said with a laugh. “When Charles talks, you never know what’s going to come out, right? Folks should be excited about hearing that engagement between two people who are very good at what they do, the best of the best in that industry.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Clark Kellogg, Ron Stokes hope to affect change through Foundation
