A collaboration between Michigan State University students, alumni, faculty, and friends, as well as the greater East Lansing community, this year’s TEDxMSU was held April 7 at MSU’s Wharton Center for Performing Arts. Supported by the College of Arts & Letters through a Student Group Grant, the 2017 TEDxMSU featured interdisciplinary presenters who expressed their past experiences, current projects, and future visions to promote inquiry and critical discussion. 

Two College of Arts & Letters students – Alexis Adams and Lee Cleaveland – were selected as speakers for the student-run event.

Alexis Adams is a graduating senior, majoring in Humanities-Pre-Law and Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities. In addition to her academics, she proudly serves as an Intercultural Aide (ICA) in the residence halls on campus.

She tackled the issue of colorism during her TEDx talk, not in terms of beauty, but on the legal ramifications of this global phenomenon. She highlighted the issue and provided solutions to this problem all while promoting a visual representation.

I’ve learned that my voice is powerful.

“As a student leader (Intercultural Aide and MRULE), I am constantly forced to learn from other people, and their culture, their perspective, and I get to share my knowledge and the courage of embracing difference,” she said.

Adams urges other students to take advantage of their time at MSU, as she has gotten amazing experiences out of her MSU engagements.

“I’ve learned that my voice is powerful,” she said, “and I need to use my confidence I found at MSU to give social issues and other marginalized communities a platform to make the world a better place.”

Lee Cleaveland is working on a BFA in Acting and BA in Media & Information. He has been acting professionally in Michigan regional theatre for more than 10 years and has done a variety of short films, commercials, and voice overs. Despite being born without a left hand, Cleaveland has found success as a musician and plays 10 instruments, notably the guitar and trumpet. His TEDxMSU  talk was about MSU’s research in the field of bionics as well as the progress made in prosthetic technologies through 3D printing. 

“I selected this topic because of my experiences growing up without a left hand and because of the help and resources MSU’s Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD) has provided me in my attempts to build a 3D printed arm.”

Cleaveland also touched on the benefits of open-source designs and how this has changed the industry and people’s lives.

As an actor, Cleaveland felt comfortable performing in front of a large audience, but found new experiences in being a TEDx speaker.

You should actively take every opportunity that is presented because you never know where it might lead and what doors it may open.

“I learned a lot about formatting technical and scientific information in clear, concise ways for the everyday person to understand,” he said. “It was a great opportunity to be able to speak in front of that many people and was fun telling my story.”

Like Adams, Cleaveland also urges others to take advantage of all the opportunities at MSU, including the reinvigorated TEDxMSU program and the MSU RCPD.

“You should actively take every opportunity that is presented because you never know where it might lead and what doors it may open,” he said. “How much you put into something affects how much you’ll get out.”