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October 26, 2009

Nationally recognized TV journalist celebrates 40 years of EOP

Nationally recognized journalist says program saved his life

By CASEY RYAN VOCK

PLATTSBURGH — Without the State University of New York's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), television personality Dominic Carter believes he would not be where he is today.

"I would probably be up the road at one of the prisons," said Carter, the nationally recognized anchor of the NY1 news and commentary program "Inside City Hall."

Carter, the keynote speaker for the 40th-anniversary celebration of Plattsburgh State's Educational Opportunity Program chapter, was recently invited to share his story and his gratefulness for the program at the Burgundy Room with students, faculty and staff members of the Plattsburgh chapter.

The program provides access to resources, academic support and financial aid to students who show promise for mastering college-level work but who may otherwise not be admitted.

"(Educational Opportunity Program) has saved so many lives," he said. "I believe in this program. I had a decision to make tonight: my bread and butter — my job — or Plattsburgh and EOP. I chose to be here with you tonight."

Carter was raised in the projects of the south Bronx by his mother, who was clinically diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. But after enrolling in the EOP at SUNY Cortland, he has since become one of New York's most successful political reporters and believes that his is not the only life that has been saved by the EOP.

"I didn't have a father on paper," he said. "But make no excuses! You have the opportunity of a lifetime."

Carter never thought as a young man that he would achieve so much.

He went on to complete graduate studies at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and was the one journalist to secure an interview with Nelson Mandela in 1990 when he made his historic visit to the United States and received more than 5,000 requests for interviews.

Known for his no-holds-barred style interviews of countless high-profile political figures, including Caroline Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo, Carter has been profiled by Oprah Winfrey in her magazine, and he has published a book on his life, "No Momma's Boy."

He has also made numerous appearances on "Face the Nation," "Hardball with Chris Matthews," CNN and the Fox News Channel.

Carter recently experienced something else he never expected: becoming a personal friend of Donald Trump.

"I never thought in a million years that Mr. Trump would call me up and say 'Dominic, I want to talk to you.'"

Carter credits much of his success to the EOP.

"EOP really does get in your blood," he said. "The way I feel about EOP is that you've hit the lottery for a million dollars. This program took a shot on people like me when no one else believed in us."

Carter still remembers his first summer in the EOP, when he and other newly enrolled students were told that two out of three people in their group would not make it anywhere in life.

"It wasn't going to be me. I wasn't going back to the housing projects in New York City."

"I know what it's like to be hungry. I know what it's like to be poor. But you've got to turn negatives into positives."

Robert James, associate provost of the State University of New York, introduced Carter at the celebration.

"He is the kind of EOP student who has worked extremely hard to get where he is," James said. "He has given back. He has done tremendous things."

James said that Plattsburgh State EOP students should be proud to be a part of one of the most successful chapters, crediting the Plattsburgh EOP faculty, staff and students for taking the program to great heights.

"It all comes down to a campus that supports the program," he said.

Most of the EOP students, James pointed out, hail from urban environments and go on succeed in ways that many would never consider a possibility.

"It doesn't matter in life where you started," Carter said. "It matters in life where you go."

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