The School of Theology is pleased to announce Education for Ministry (EfM) graduate, Termaine Hicks will speak at 7 p.m., CDT, Wednesday, June 21. Hicks’s keynote address for the EfM 2023 Summer Conference will be held in Blackman Auditorium located in the Woods Labs Building (adjacent to Spence Hall) on the campus of the University of the South. Funded by the Samuel Marshall Beattie Lecture Fund, Hicks’s address is free and open to the public. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Wrongly accused and incarcerated as a young man, Termaine Hicks made national news in December 2020 when he was exonerated and released from prison after a 19-year fight for justice.

For more, read “Stepping up with Termaine Hicks,” an article published earlier this year in the School of Theology’s Features Magazine. Find the article here: <hicksstory.sewanee.edu>.

After his dramatic exoneration and release from prison, Hicks spent several months easing back into society before beginning work on the nonprofit Selfless Thinking Expresses Potential that Uplifts People (S.T.E.P.U.P.), which provides resources for at-risk youth.

S.T.E.P.U.P. produces and promotes educational videos and also offers motivational speaking and training in schools, teaching positive decision-making, how to recognize bullying, and how to communicate with peers who carry guns, sell drugs, or who drink and drive. The training also emphasizes the importance of physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle. “We empower youth to use their voice to prevent bullying and violence,” says Hicks about his presentations at schools. “This is my ministry. EfM gave me the skills, and this is my gift back to the world.”

About his upcoming appearance at the University of the South Hicks shared, “My story is truly exceptional and EfM is a big part of it. Speaking at this special EfM gathering means a great deal to me. It also provides an opportunity to continue sharing my story and my work broadly. Thanks to EfM, I’ve been able to transform personal hardship into hope for at-risk youth and that’s something to talk about.”

“Termaine Hicks’s story is a testimony to the power of faith to overcome bitterness and despair, and his commitment to helping others—after the injustice that he has suffered—is truly inspirational. I encourage everyone not to miss the chance to hear Mr. Hicks speak,” said the Very Rev. Dr. James F. Turrell, Vice Provost and Dean of the School of Theology.

For those unable to attend in person, find information about the live-stream webinar at: <hickszoom.sewanee.edu>.