News
Overcoming Struggles with Race and Poverty
President S. Alan Ray awarded the Lincoln Medallion Friday to Elmhurst College senior Robert Strzemp in a private ceremony in the president’s office. Ray commended Strzemp for his achievement in becoming the school’s latest Lincoln Student Laureate, and he presented Strzemp with the Medallion, a Certificate of Achievement and a check for the prize. Among those attending were College staffers who recommended Strzemp for the Award: Mark Scherer, head men’s basketball coach; Bev McNulty, assistant director, Frick Center; Paul W. Krohn, athletic director, and Barry Brennan, football recruiter.
Robert J. Strzemp, an Elmhurst College senior and basketball player who overcame struggles with race and poverty, was named a Lincoln Student Laureate—a top statewide honor for students who surmount obstacles to achieve success.
Strzemp, 23, of Oak Park, an accounting major, earned the honor as a dean’s list student and all-conference basketball player.
The Student Laureate Award is given by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois to exceptional students from each of the four-year colleges in the state. The Academy honors students who have overcome obstacles—homelessness, injury and more, in Strzemp’s case—and who reflect the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.
“After reading your nomination letters, I am impressed by your ability to rise above the challenges of life, to create a vision for your life, and to work diligently toward that vision,” College President S. Alan Ray told Strzemp in a recent letter.
The Lincoln Awards were given Nov. 7 at the Old State Capitol in Springfield. Although Strzemp was unable to travel to the state capital, he was to receive his award from Ray at a ceremony at Elmhurst College. The award comes with the Student Laureate Medallion, a certificate of achievement and a check for $150.
Strzemp (the ‘z’ is silent) said he hopes his example can encourage others in need. “Everything I’ve been through has taught me you can do more for someone else,” he says. “If you see a kid going the wrong way,instead of writing him off, why not see if you can help him?”
Strzemp says he was saved from the pitfalls of the streets by a series of people and events. He was born to a white mother and a black father, whom he never knew. With a white sister and a white brother, “It was very hard for me as the only minority in my own household—very confusing living in a different culture.”
From the ages of 13 to 17, he lived with a number of foster parents, four different families, five moves and two legal guardians. Eventually, he found a home playing basketball at the Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), and his coaches became his mentors. One of his coaches, Nick Sakellaris, became his legal guardian and took Strzemp into his home.
Strzemp had spent his early childhood near Austin Boulevard, which divides Oak Park and the West Side of Chicago. “I grew up on the Oak Park side, which I say is a blessing,” Strzemp recalled. “For a lot of my friends, living on one side or another made all the difference. It made the difference for me.”
Strzemp’s family moved to Joliet when he was in 8th grade, and he fought often with his mother and siblings, trying to fit in but never feeling at ease. Whites treated him as “a city black person” but he never really knew African American culture in his own home. “I didn’t relate to my black peers because I didn’t live in that environment, and I didn’t relate to my white peers,” he said.
Strzemp struggled that year, dropping out of school for a time and staying home. “I was really resentful about a lot of things, and I was very disrespectful and I fought back and lashed out and I didn’t understand,” he remembered. “I believe in God and I’m a Christian, and I believe a lot of things happen out of God’s will.
A turning point came when he persuaded his mother to give up her guardianship. “She actually let me go and gave up her parental rights,” he said. “For me to somehow, out of nowhere, understand and know that’s what I needed to do, and for her to actually let it happen, was amazing.”
Strzemp moved back to Oak Park and lived with a series of foster parents and in different Hispanic and African-American homes of friends. Sometimes he didn’t fit in and was asked to move on. Sometimes he slept on the kitchen floor. He had only four changes of clothes to wear one year. Later, as he found solace in sports, he managed to overcome his anger and devote himself to the basketball and football he loved at OPRF.
“I felt alone at the time, and sports helped,” he said. “As far as academics were concerned, I wasn’t interested, but it was all about survival and making it to the next day. My surviving helped me see a lot of other opportunities and get me to this point.”
During his junior year, he got in trouble when he pushed another basketball player who mouthed off to him on the court. He was suspended. “I was thinking about dropping out of school and giving it all to the streets. I was tired of begging and needing money and worrying about eating and clothes and all of that. At this point, I called it quits,” he said.
“But my assistant coach (Sakellaris) called me and he offered to take me in and become my guardian. He told me he could provide a stable household, and money, and he said, ‘You can worry about school and sports.’
“He was really cool,” Strzemp said. “I say to this day he saved my life. I don’t even think he knows it.
“Once he took me in, I didn’t have to worry about anything. He really let me enjoy the rest of my high school years and I got to be a teen ager for once. He helped with the college applications and stuff. I wouldn’t have gone to college without his help.”
Elmhurst College and others recruited Strzemp. He said he chose Elmhurst “because of the blue and the white. I liked baby blue ‘cause of the Michael Jordan thing and North Carolina. And Chris Martin was all-American forward who played here, and he was a senior when I was a freshman. During the recruiting process, I thought, if I got to go against that kind of player every day, I could do better.”
At Elmhurst, Strzemp was hampered sophomore and junior years with double knee injuries, but he stayed on the team, and came back his senior year as starting forward. He earned his first all-conference honor after averaging 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Strzemp has career totals 541 points, 260 rebounds, 100 assists, 36 steals and eight blocks.
Ironically, Strzemp credits being on the injured list with tendonitis as one of the reasons he started getting more deeply involved in his studies. Eventually, he changed his career goal from teaching physical education to business management. He hopes one day to have his own business, perhaps in music, or a sports bar.
At times, with his braids and tattoos, he felt he didn’t always fit in at the College. He struggled with injuries and rules, and he has been outspoken about how he feels minority students are viewed and treated. He has written a letter to The Leader arguing that the College was not as culturally sensitive as he had hoped and didn’t take enough interest in the interests of minorities.
But he said he appreciates what he has learned here. He enjoyed reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X, the Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr., and The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. He has enjoyed performing rap and working with friends in the Music Department.
Strzemp impressed his professors and coaches. He was nominated for the Lincoln Student Laureate Award by Mark Scherer, Head Men’s Basketball Coach; Bev McNulty, Assistant Director, Frick Center; Paul W. Krohn, Athletic Director, and Barry Brennan, Football Recruiter.
“Robert has overcome many obstacles to become a very successful young man,” said Scherer in his nominating letter. “I feel he would be an outstanding representative for Elmhurst College.”
Strzemp is looking forward to graduating at Midyear Commencement and plans to start working as an assistant coach at OPRF. He wants to help others, to tell his story to the world and perhaps to use his music and rap talent to reach young people.
“The Lincoln Award makes me assured I’m doing the right thing,” Strzemp concluded. “And everything I’ve been through means nothing unless I give it back and help people learn from it and help others.
“There are a lot of chances and opportunities I got presented to me that a lot of other kids didn’t. And a lot of times I was going to turn down that same wrong path. But you don’t gain anything by quitting.”
