Ezekiel Stephens: Finding a Way to Make a Change
Ezekiel Stephens, more affectionately known as Zeke, was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan, about two hours away from Detroit. He grew up in the roughest part of Saginaw, primarily gang territory. His mother made sure to keep him away from the dangers of the neighborhood, and after 2nd grade, they moved to Decatur, Georgia, but eventually moved back home to Saginaw.
Zeke graduated from Arthur Hill High, in Saginaw, Michigan, where he was senior class vice president and prom king. Safe to say, he is not new to elections, campaigning, or coronations. He expressed, “It’s just a full circle moment you know, my senior year in high school, I wore a crown, I was prom king, and you know this is my senior year in college, and I got a crown again.”
When asked about his decision to choose Clark Atlanta, he stated he did his research and followed his passion, “I’ve always had a passion for writing films and TV shows, so when I found out who came through (Clark Atlanta)… my heart just knew.” And with his decision, he went to his counselors who discouraged him from going out of Michigan for college. However, since childhood, he and his mother made a mutual agreement of not staying in Michigan after high school. Zeke told his mom, “My top 3 schools are Clark Atlanta, Jackson State, and Southern, and she was like well, and broke it down by the stats and money, but I wasn’t worried.” His mother supported him and encouraged him to take that risk, it was worth it.
“Anybody can achieve anything, don’t limit yourself, it don’t matter what classification you are, it don’t matter who you are personally, don’t put this bar on you, that you can’t do something, you can do anything.”
On Nov.14, 2024 , Stephens became the first Mister CAU to join the Gamma Kappa Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.
While talking, Zeke mentioned a story from his time working at Tyler Perry Studios over the summer as an intern.
“I had an internship this past summer, I saw an ad on Instagram and was like oh shoot I gotta do it”, Zeke explained. While applying, he realized his GPA was just points shy of being qualified for the internship. However, that didn’t stop him, he submitted his unofficial transcript with a qualifying GPA hoping he would get the internship, which he did. While there over the summer he learned so much and affirmed, “If you really want to do something you have to be committed.”
When recalling his first thoughts on the role of Mister Clark Atlanta University (CAU), he candidly stated, “At first I thought, this wack, this corny, all they do is walk and get a crown, that’s it. But the more I started learning about it, I was like okay, so I developed a plan, and everyone told me to run. I had to find it in my heart to be like, ‘Do I want to help the people, am I really a man for the people, am I really the person they say I am?”
He’d been thinking about running for Mister CAU since his spring semester of freshman year when he realized what the impact could be and what it looked like.
“Clark is a world that can do so much for you, you know that's why I say, anybody can do anything on this campus as long as you are willing to put the work in and be confident with yourself, be confident in everything you do.”
While serving this position, one of his main goals is, “to change the narrative that Mister CAU or the royal court just walk, play dress up, and show off on social media...I don’t want y'all to think I’m just another face, I want to change the game...I want my shoes to be too big to fill, so they have to come hard.”
After graduating, some of his planned pursuits are filming a documentary on Clark Atlanta and writing stories to inspire our people. He revealed he has 5 scripts and a book, and he’s ready to get those out.
I asked what was something he’d say to his freshman self and himself 5 years from now. “To my freshman self, I would say, your time is coming, that kid freshman year was special, but everyone knew what he had before he knew it. 5 years from now... we did it, and I’ll be saying that at the Oscars. We have come so far, and we achieved everything, everything I wanted to do, I did it, everything I said I was going to do, I did it, everything I said I wanted, I got it.”
To the current Panthers, Zeke urges, “Keep going, whatever you’re here for, just keep going for that one thing,” and to the incoming Panthers, “Stay focused, and remain humble, you can get caught up in this world of Atlanta, where it’s partying every other weekend... stay focused, and know why you’re here, you’re here for a reason, God put you here for a reason.”
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