( CNN ) -- Fifty years ago this month , I chanced to hear the Rev . Martin Luther King Jr . I was a mild-mannered kid with a speech impediment and a love of math . That day , I was focused on solving math problems , not issues of justice and equal rights . But King broke through to me when he said this : If the children of Birmingham march , Americans will see that what they are asking for is a better education . They will see that even the very young know the difference between right and wrong . I chose to march , and found myself among hundreds of children jailed for five terrifying days . Mind you , I was not a brave child . But even at 12 years old , I believed and hoped that my participation could make a difference . Twenty-five years later , I had made my way to the University of Maryland , Baltimore County . My colleagues and I had an outrageous dream : Perhaps a young research university -- just 20 years old -- could alter the course of minority performance in higher education , particularly in the sciences . Baltimore philanthropists Robert and Jane Meyerhoff shared our vision . TED.com : How to escape education 's death valley . And now people ask : What magic have we hit upon that has enabled us to become a national model for educating students of all races in a wide range of disciplines ? How did we -- as a predominantly white university with a strong liberal arts curriculum -- become one of the top producers of minority scientists in the country ? Rather than magic , there are a number of educational principles at work . And what my colleagues and I have found is that they all grow out of one key truth : The world does not always have to be as it is today . TED.com : Hey science teachers , make it fun . To start , we faced up to some particularly tough questions : Why were n't more students from traditionally underrepresented groups succeeding ? In what ways was the university responsible ? What questions were n't we even thinking to ask ? The lessons we learned took shape in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program , which has grown into a national model for producing minority students who earn advanced degrees in science , technology , engineering and math . TED.com : Our failing schools -- enough is enough . In fact , a number of campuses across the nation have been replicating the program , including most recently the University of North Carolina and Penn State . Along the way , we discovered that the strategies that helped minority students initially could be just as effective in helping students across racial and economic groups and across the disciplines -- throughout the arts , humanities and social sciences : . Work from strengths and set high expectations . Too often , we focus on deficits . We see poor preparation or lack of family support , rather than seeing underdeveloped talent and tenacity . At UMBC , we look at a student 's background as context , not as destiny . We set high expectations , and both challenge and support students to ensure their success . Build a community of scholars . We help students develop strong peer networks and encourage them to see one another as partners , rather than competitors . It is effective -- and powerful -- when students support and hold one another accountable . Engage students in meaningful research . When asked who contributed most to their academic success , students will almost always mention a faculty member . Faculty-student connections are critical , and it 's especially important that faculty engage students in meaningful research . We like to say : It takes researchers to produce researchers . Hold yourself to quantifiable progress . We constantly evaluate the outcomes of our work , and that evaluation is data-driven , not anecdotal . For example , we know that the various features of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program -- peer support groups , intensive advising , early research experiences -- work in combination . UMBC 's students graduate , and they go on in large numbers to earn Ph.D.s in science and engineering . But which elements of our approach are most critical and cost-effective ? We 're currently working on a project funded by the National Science Foundation to tease that out . If we do n't look critically at what works -- and what does not -- we ca n't recalibrate and continue to improve . Keep at it . A graduate recently wrote me to share a quote from Aristotle : `` We are what we repeatedly do ; excellence , then , is not an act , but a habit . '' To fuel that kind of persistence , hold fast to this one key truth : The world does not always have to be as it is today . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Freeman Hrabowski .
Freeman Hrabowski , longtime college president , started with an `` outrageous dream '' Inspired by memories of Martin Luther King , he sought to teach people of all backgrounds . He wanted the university to be a place where everyone could learn and grow in their own unique way.