In the mid-1970s, Black comedians were beginning to gain a significant share of the limelight. One of the most influential was Godfrey Cambridge. A native New Yorker, he was a medical student before making an about-face in the early 1950s to become an actor. Cambridge started off-Broadway while taking odd jobs to make ends meet. Soon, he worked with other important actors in his generation, including James Earl Jones, Louis Gossett, Cicely Tyson, and more. Cambridge was also a brilliant stand-up comedian, a rotund headliner who peppered his act with cheeky jokes, and topical subjects while poking fun at pop culture, race, sex, and more at clubs in Greenwich Village, and other New York City hot spots. Cambridge transitioned into movies like “The Last Angry Man,” “The President’s Analyst,” and “Watermelon Man” in 1970, considered to be his breakout role. It was followed by “Cotton Comes to Harlem,” and its sequel “Come Back, Charleston Blue.” Cambridge was well-considered for his work on social justice issues and was bold about his opinions. He was a pioneer who obliterated racial barriers and stereotypes with his intelligent humor and influenced comedians such as the late Richard Pryor, and contemporary performers like Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle.  Cambridge died suddenly on the set of a network TV movie in 1976 at the age of 43. “Working with the Program Council, particularly heading a division, would be a significant student activity,” said Cleo Thomas about his UPC experience. He chaired Emphasis for a year before becoming the school’s first African American SGA President. “I think it helped to develop management skills,” he said. Thomas’s time was memorable. “As a freshman, I was chairman of Black History Week and brought Angela Davis to campus in the spring of 1974.” There were few more controversial figures at the time than Davis. Born in Birmingham, Davis was closely connected affiliated with the Black Panther Party, a strong opponent of the Vietnam War, and the far-left politics of the 1960s and 1970s. As an up-and-coming news reporter and anchor, Tom Brokaw was getting noticed. After his Emphasis speaking engagement in Tuscaloosa, he joined Jane Pauley full-time and co-anchored NBC’s flagship morning broadcast, “The Today Show,” until 1981 when he became the main anchor of the “NBC Nightly News” broadcasts, a position Brokaw would hold for 22 years. Thomas booked the newsman to appear at Ferguson. “I introduced Tom Brokaw and left and went to some interview session or something and left him on stage a bit too long for the Q&A session,” said Thomas. “(He) knew what I was doing and gave me something like $100 for my (SGA) campaign. He was then on “The Today Show.” Perhaps winning the election was enough to get that reported on Today. But it was reported there, and I thought Brokaw was the reason.” Tony Randall was a working actor in every sense of the term. He appeared in a long list of movies such as “Pillow Talk” and “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” in the 1950s, “7 Faces of Dr. Lao” and “Boys Night Out” in the 1960s. But it was his role as Felix Unger in “The Odd Couple” that made Randall a household name. For five seasons beginning in 1970, Randall was paired with Jack Klugman (“Oscar Madison”) in a network TV show that would help define the sitcom in the 1970s. His only appearance in Tuscaloosa was memorable, sweet, and filled with laughs and showbiz anecdotes from a wildly successful figure in the era’s pop culture. Other Emphasis speakers during the period include Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. With lives firmly rooted on stage and screen, the star couple eventually celebrated 50 years of marriage. The beloved couple appeared to talk candidly about their history in acting, but a unified devotion and lifelong commitment to civil rights, family values, and the Black community. Davis made his movie debut in 1950. Twenty years later he directed his first feature, “Cotton Come to Harlem.” Together the couple produced TV shows and series, wrote books and stage plays, and later founding their own successful production company. Stan Lee was a towering figure in the world of comics. He was the creator of iconic characters like Spider-Man, X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, and others. Lee and his pulpy Marvel magazines pioneered superhero comics in the 1960s. By the time he came to Tuscaloosa, Lee was considered the godfather of the genre. He talked candidly about his earliest influences, U.S. Army service, as well as the many good and a few bad ideas he struck along the way. In 1966 Atlanta native James Dickey was named the 18^th U.S. Poet Laurette an esteemed literary figure. He served his country as a pilot in World War II, and later in Korea. After completing his studies, Dickey worked in advertising as a copywriter specialist, which he said gave him no joy. His first book, “Into the Stone and Other Poems,” was published in 1960 and was followed by many more. Perhaps his greatest triumph came in the form of “Deliverance,” an award-winning novel about a party of four on a deadly river trip in backwoods Georgia. It was made into a movie starring Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds, both stars of the time, directed by John Boorman. “Deliverance” gave the southern poet additional contemporary standing, and opened venues on college campuses for speaking engagements. Like Dickey, Gene Roddenberry flew combat missions in World War II. After the war, he worked as a commercial airline pilot, a Los Angeles policeman, and, eventually, a screenwriter. Without Roddenberry, there would have been no “Star Trek.” It was his creation that brought space science fiction to primetime television. And while the genre may have eventually found a way, it probably would have taken a much different path. His journey as a writer started in TV, working on series like “Have Gun Will Travel” and “Highway Patrol.” Roddenberry’s multi-ethnic and intergalactic series was democratic and humanistic, a clear commentary on the times -- power without humanity, intellect without compassion. Due to the proliferation of reruns and syndicated programming, “Star Trek’s” 79 total episodes took on a second life and paved the way for other Sci-Fi programming to follow. Roddenberry’s clear vision of a better future is what drove the show, as well as fans of the franchise.