The standing-room-only crowd was brought to its feet to cheer for the man of the night as Professor Cornel West stepped onstage Thursday at Shryock Auditorium.

“I came to Carbondale to unnerve you,” West said. “I come from a stigmatized and traumatized people that try to tell the truth!”

His words sent the audience into an uproar of applause. West spoke to a full house of students, faculty and community members, in an event the Student Programming Council’s Lectures Committee has been preparing since September.

West is a renowned speaker and civil-rights activist, philosopher, writer and strong advocate for democracy.

During his lecture, West shed light on modern American politics and embraced the themes of having integrity, honesty and decency.

“What is your life task?” he said, “Not just your future occupation.”

Tony Pacheco, a senior from Chicago studying psychology, said he was moved by West’s ideologies.

“Hearing him made me question my relation to the things around me,” he said. “I think it comes from his delivery of analysis of our modern world.”

Thomas Dear, a sophomore from St. Louis studying finance, said he was very pleased with the lecture and was inspired by West.

“I’m really at a loss for words,” he said. “I definitely feel he affected more than just African Americans in the audience. I’ve learned much about his philosophies and how I can reach that same level of wisdom.”

Manny Bopeya, a senior from Springfield studying nursing, said he came to the lecture to hear West speak about the role of educated black men in society, and how they are portrayed.

“I believe his ideologies are radical, yet maintain an honest unfiltered view of the world’s past, present and future, ” he said. “I definitely believe that his teachings should be implemented in philosophy and Africana studies courses because of his own experiences and academic background.”

West received his doctoral degree in philosophy from Princeton Universtiy and taught at Yale University as well as Princeton University. He has also published many books, including “Race Matters” and “Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism.”

West briefly spoke about the present climate of American government.

“Jim Crow Jr. is still operating, even easier, with a black president,” he said. “I’m not against President Obama, but I do not agree with some of the choices he has made.”

Jim Crow Jr. is what West described as the imprisonment of lower-class minorities for soft crimes, including marijuana offenses.

West said parts of America’s justice and economic systems are failing under the administration, and criticized Obama for his naïve view of America when the president spoke in 2004, calling America a “magical place.”

“I said, ‘This brother is about to have a Christopher Columbus discovery; he’s about to discover America,'” he said. “Along the way, Obama has lost his integrity and is beginning to lean. He has not upheld the promises he has made us.”

West held a question and answer session after the lecture. Students and members of the community stood to ask questions about politics in America, Illinois and Carbondale.

West said he was eager to hear from everyone who had the courage to speak and appreciated the questions. At the end, West received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Pamela Smoot, professor of Africana studies, said she was very pleased with the turnout of the lecture. Smoot helped orchestrate West’s first visit to SIU in 2009.

Matthew Ryg, director of the Lectures Committee of SPC, spoke during the introduction of West and thanked him for visiting SIU this year.

“He was very generous and flexible in negotiating his speaking fee,” he said. “He required literally tens of thousands of dollars less than Doris Kearns Goodwin charged earlier this spring.”

Ryg said West is a gracious human being and hoped he would be able to energize student organization, involvement and activism on campus.

“I love his energy and fire,” he said. “I look to Dr. West for commentary on all the major social, political and economic issues of the day.”

As West was leaving, he gave a personal statement directed to the students.

“For students, the key to our history is remembrance, reverence and resistance,” he said. “You have that, and our history will never be lost…We have to tell the truth across the board, we have to make sure that we don’t get caught in one line and most of all be critical of ourselves.”

Brittany Pettiford can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @BPettiford_DE or at 536-3311 ext. 254.