by John Sorce
john.sorce@theleaven.org
OVERLAND PARK — God can make good out of what seems to be the worst of times.
Just ask Richard Phillips, one of the longest serving exonerees in U.S. history.
Phillips was arrested in 1971 for murder and armed robbery and was sentenced to prison the next year — when he was 26 years old. He was incarcerated for 46 years and not released until 2018 when he was 72.
One year into his freedom, he received $1.5 million from the state of Michigan attorney general for the time he wrongly lost.
Phillips was at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park on April 29 to speak to the students and introduce the Richard Phillips Pursuit of Knowledge Scholarship after he donated $100,000 to the school.
Phillips dropped out of high school as a sophomore but has been an avid reader for much of his life. He said that reading opened his eyes to a lot of things that he missed out on after high school and he is continuing to learn today.
His message to the students was to always continue learning and be grateful for the sacrifices others have made for their education.
“The educational advantages at St. Thomas [Aquinas] High School will make you better human beings and will fill in gaps in your life,” Phillips said. “The opportunities here will make you more empathetic towards others and better serve God and the good of others.
“So, recognize the golden opportunity you have here at Aquinas. People have made sacrifices for you to be here that want to see you be the best human being that you can be.”
An acquaintance becomes a friend
Phillips’ involvement with Aquinas came through theology teacher Leo Brown, who is an avid Detroit Tigers fan and has been going to games at Comerica Park for about 20 years.
Brown’s friend Tim Higgins is the campus minister at the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
About nine years ago, Higgins asked Brown if he wanted to chaperone a mission trip to Detroit with some of his college students. They have been making that trip every year since, and in 2019, Brown saw Phillips’ story on CBS.
He wanted to find a way to get Phillips to share his story with the college students.
“I called Tim and asked if we could get this guy to speak to the college students,” Brown said. “I called Richard’s lawyer, who was mentioned in the CBS story, and said we were trying to help college kids and wanted to know if Mr. Phillips would be open to speaking to the group.”
Brown and Phillips first met in January 2020, and he said the relationship has grown from an acquaintanceship into a genuine friendship.
When he was in Detroit last summer, Phillips mentioned to Brown about visiting Kansas City to take in a Chiefs game. He came for the team’s Thursday night game against the Baltimore Ravens in September and ended up staying for Aquinas’ football game the following night.
He visited the high school that Friday and spoke with some students and faculty members. He then told Brown about a week later that the school’s community left such a lasting impact on him that he wanted to donate $100,000 to establish a scholarship.
“It still blows me away today,” Brown said. “It’s not necessarily the amount as much as it is how this guy has taken decades of suffering and injustice and has turned it into something that is concretely beneficial for our students.”
The scholarship will be given to four students a year over a 10-year period, with each student receiving $2,500.
A part of American history
The scholarship recipients for this year were sophomore Nadia Wacker, freshman Nathaniel Eckerberg, sophomore Thomas Costello and freshman Brendan Borchert.
Students were required to read two books and handwrite an essay on what they learned.
Wacker initially heard of Phillips’ story when she was in grade school. She recalled her fifth grade teacher showcasing a newspaper article about his story in her classroom.
“When he came to our Mass, it was a full-circle moment because I realized that was the same guy,” Wacker said. “It was beautiful to see how everything he’s gone through has led him to find his purpose and how God has been working in his life.”
Wacker read “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou.
“Those were impactful for me because they are centered around a woman and self-discovery, and that really spoke to me being where I am in my life,” she said. “‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ is now my favorite book of all time.”
Eckerberg first heard about the story after Brown came to him one day after prayer club, and suggested he apply. He chose to read “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy and the Book of Job from the Bible.
“Mr. Brown keeps saying this guy is part of American history, and he really is,” Eckerberg said. “He considers us his kids now and is really invested in all of us. He has deep faith in God and is a very nice man.
“I’m really honored that he chose me and the other three students. When we were talking, he kept bringing up our futures and what we want to aspire to. I’m just honored by it and blessed, and I thank Jesus for it.”
When Brown was driving Phillips back to the airport, the two joked about whether Phillips ever thought he would be friends with someone in Kansas City and involved with a high school in Overland Park.
Neither one of them could believe it. But as Brown put it, “It shows that the smallest interactions can end up bearing great fruit.”
To view more photos from the April 29 event at Aquinas, click here.
