2018 CCCU Young Alumni winner
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) announced that Angie Thomas ‘11, Belhaven University alum and author of the bestseller The Hate U Give, has been named the 2018 CCCU Young Alumni Award winner.
The award, presented to her February 1, during the 2018 CCCU International Forum in Dallas, Texas, is presented to individuals who have achieved uncommon leadership or success in a way that reflects the values of Christian higher education.
Using relatable characters and engaging prose, her book addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honestly. It is now a #1 New York Times bestseller and has received starred reviews from eight literary journals, among the most ever received for a young adult novel, and is in the process of being made into a major motion picture.
She has handled this success with the same grace and wit that are evident in her writing.
“I am in awe of the enormous leap Angela has made as a writer—moving quickly from the classrooms of Belhaven to the corridors of contemporary literary significance,” said Belhaven University President Roger Parrott. “Her artistic gifts, passion to challenge readers, and grace-filled Christian worldview blend seamlessly to reach a wide audience. Through her fiction, Angela advocates compellingly for justice and racial reconciliation. I’m thrilled that such a God-honoring young leader is primed to be a voice of influence for a generation to come.”
Attending a Christian college helped me ground my faith at a time where I needed it the most, and it continues to be my foundation.
Started as a senior project at Belhaven, Thomas wrote The Hate U Give to encourage conversations among young people about race, poverty and privilege. “When I attended Belhaven, I was a lot like my main character, Starr, living in two different worlds — my mostly black, poor neighborhood and Belhaven, which was in an upper-class neighborhood and where most of the students were white.”
Thomas continued, “When a young man named Oscar Grant lost his life in Oakland, CA at the hands of police officers, the conversations were vastly different. While some of my classmates sympathized for Oscar, others didn’t understand why there was so much unrest over his death. I wrote the short story that later became The Hate U Give as a way to help them understand.”
It's about people facing difficult, tragic, and unjust circumstances. It's about people finding their own voices and seeking to correct wrongs. It's about misunderstood, and often marginalized, people living in loving homes, communities, and relationships. And, primarily, it's about people.
She credits her time at Belhaven for helping her shape her view of the world as well as her writing talents. “Attending a Christian college helped me ground my faith at a time where I needed it the most, and it continues to be my foundation,” Thomas said. “As a writer, I don’t shy away from topics, even if they make people uncomfortable, in large part due to my faith— Jesus didn’t do easy work, nor did he come to make people comfortable. This is something I came to understand more while I was at Belhaven.”
As a close friend, professor, and mentor to Thomas, Belhaven Creative Writing Chair Dr. Randy Smith played a key role in Thomas’ life and career. Below is a Q&A with Dr. Smith that gives a closer look at Thomas and her progression from student to best-selling author.
q&A with dr. smith
Tell us about Angie as a student at Belhaven.
Long before Angie came to Belhaven, she was serious about telling stories. Angie's mother says that Angie made up her own stories at bedtime as a child or added her own endings to stories that her mother read to her. This is the kind of student we get excited about helping grow as a writer—someone to whom God has given a gift for, and a calling to, writing. We want to pull alongside them and help them grow toward their potential while they are in the BFA program. Angie came to us telling stories, and she left telling stories even better.
How does it feel to see a student you taught achieve this success?
It's hard for a teacher to imagine anything more satisfying than seeing one of their students reach their potential as a writer and pursue their craft and calling in the world. When a student achieves the kind of success that Angie has, a teacher has the deep satisfaction of knowing that they have in some way fulfilled their own calling in the world.
What are some of Angie’s strengths as a writer?
While at Belhaven, Angie found her own voice as a writer. In The Hate U Give, her unique voice is evident as she artfully blends her knowledge of literature, pop culture, and spoken idioms. Angie also excels at exploring subject matter, settings, and characters unique to particular times and places in American culture—as she does through the events and people situated in the fictional Garden Heights neighborhood.
Do you stay in touch with Angie? Tell us about how she is handling her success.
Yes, Angie and I talk, text, and message often. We follow each other on Facebook and Twitter. I enjoy keeping up with her success through social media. It's been my great privilege to move from calling Angie a student to calling her a friend. From the outside, I can tell that success has been thrilling for her, but also very demanding. She has handled this success with the same grace and wit that are evident in her writing.
Did you know about the book when she was a student here? Also, did you give her any advice or help on the book?
I will always remember the first time Angie brought a story about Garden Heights (or a very similar neighborhood) to class as an undergraduate. I was so struck with the creative power and texture that ran through her words—it was as if the characters jumped to life on the page. Several characters from Angie's senior creative thesis (a collection of short stories) became characters in The Hate U Give. The best advice I remember giving Angie was "keep doing this." To her own credit, she did. It's very easy as a writer to get discouraged when no one sees what you are writing. Angie persevered and finished her first novel during the five years after graduation.
How did you see Angie mature as a Belhaven student?
I think Angie always knew what and whom she wanted to write about—the young people and adults of her community of origin. At Belhaven, I saw her grow in confidence that this material was truly her material—something she could share with the world.
What is your ongoing prayer for Angie as she launches her career?
I pray that Angie will continue to follow her own best creative instincts and write about characters that interest her. She is not an "issue" writer—she is a "people" writer. I pray that her writing life will be filled with many characters she has yet to meet.
What chord did the book touch that has made it such a success?
People sometimes wrongly describe The Hate U Give as a "Black Lives Matter" novel. In some ways, it is. By this, I mean that the book was "inspired" by injustices that African Americans suffered at the hands of authority—people like Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Sandra Bland. But the novel is so much more than a "one issue" book. It's about people facing difficult, tragic, and unjust circumstances. It's about people finding their own voices and seeking to correct wrongs. It's about misunderstood, and often marginalized, people living in loving homes, communities, and relationships. And, primarily, it's about people.
__________________________________
You can give online, by mail: Belhaven University, 1500 Peachtree Street, Campus Box 158, Jackson, MS 39202, or by phone (601) 968-8719.