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When he transitioned to Syracuse University in fall of 2019, Thomas Wilson said he struggled to fit in because he sees the world in a different way. Now a 2023 Unsung Hero award recipient, Wilson is set to graduate in May with strong ties and a four-year track record of service to the SU community.

SU recently honored Wilson as one of six recipients for SU’s Unsung Hero Award at the university’s 38th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, an honor created in 1994 to recognize members of the SU and local Syracuse communities for Dr. King’s vision of creating positive change. Wilson said the award is a great honor and something that he’ll never forget, though he said it was kept as a “big secret” from him.

“I couldn’t believe this was happening, I was in shock,” Wilson said. “Martin Luther King Jr. is a great example since he changed the world… you can do anything different now compared to how it was back in the day. I can live now way better than I did before.”

Upon becoming involved with spaces on campus like Hendricks Chapel and the Orange Television Network, Wilson said he found his groove at SU and developed his social personality.

From work at the information desk in the Schine Student Center to involvement behind the scenes at Hendricks Chapel and the Catholic Center’s St. Thomas More Chapel, Wilson’s involvement across campus has reflected a role of service. He currently serves as an executive producer and creator for Orange Television Network’s “Thomas on the Town,” a show where he interviews members of the SU community on university news like the closing of the Marshall Street Starbucks.

But before his involvement at SU and throughout his life, Wilson has faced a host of difficulties stemming from medical and developmental issues, Rosalind Welch-Wilson, Wilson’s mother, said. When Wilson was born weighing only one pound, she said doctors told her he wouldn’t make it.

“Being born at one pound, you’re always trying to survive,” Welch-Wilson said. “He just had that in him that he was going to achieve and do things that nobody expected him to do.”

She said the challenges still didn’t stop Wilson from thriving in high school before finding his way to SU, Welch-Wilson said.

When it came to taking a leap and coming to SU, Wilson said his mother was a big influence on his decision. When she discovered the InclusiveU program, which helps students with intellectual and developmental disabilities adapt to college life, through a friend, she knew it was the right place and the right decision for Wilson.

Wilson developed a love for journalism at an early age, Welch-Wilson said. Because of Wilson’s developmental disability, she said he struggled to watch normal children’s programs like “Sesame Street.” Instead, from the time he was two-years-old, Wilson watched the news every day and interviewed people around him, she said. Welch-Wilson described Wilson’s early passion for journalism as his go-to “play activity.”

Wilson said he’s been watching the news for a very long time and likes that he can tell the world what’s going on, but acknowledged that sometimes it means he has to talk about stories that can be difficult and upsetting.

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Wilson came to SU just months before #NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students to protest against the university’s response to multiple racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents on campus. Wilson said he remembers the time period and watching protests on CitrusTV monitors “like it was yesterday.” He said that fall, he wasn’t able to walk his usual route around campus because the crowds posed a safety risk.

Normally, when his day is finished, Wilson said he calls the university’s Department of Public Safety for an escort back to his dorm. Jennifer Dunn, a community service officer for DPS, said Wilson calls the routine his “personal DPS safety escort.” Dunn picks him up wherever he is on campus, like if he misses one of the trolleys on South Campus. Wilson joked that he wasn’t taking any chances because he’s a “big star” at SU.

For Dunn, getting to know Wilson and seeing him every day has been a highlight of her work.

“We all do what we can for Thomas,” said Dunn. “(He) always brightens my day. The bond and friendship we have formed will never be forgotten.”

Richard Curran, another community service officer with DPS, works an overnight shift with Wilson at the Schine Student Center. In an email to The Daily Orange, he said Wilson always goes out of his way to work with the staff in Schine and never turns down opportunities to learn about its operations.

“I’d say optimism is his golden attribute,” said Curran. “No matter how inconvenienced he may get in his work or his day-to-day life, he always carries himself with a smile and keeps his head held high… I can’t say I’ve met anyone in my entire life as optimistic as Thomas Wilson.”

Noah Cierzan, an SU alum who graduated last May and worked with Wilson at OTN, said he admired Wilson’s mentality and work ethic, saying Wilson never allowed people to put a cap on his dreams.

“He wasn’t gonna let anybody tell him that he couldn’t do something,” said Cierzan. “He always worked hard to do it and really was proud of the work he did.”

Welch-Wilson said participating in and helping his community comes naturally to Wilson. To Cierzan, Wilson’s outgoing personality is what makes him a central part of his communities.

“He’s a really hard worker and just has a lot of love to give, which is evident by the fact that he is kind of like the mayor of that campus,” Cierzan said. “Everybody knows who Thomas is.”

Published on February 7, 2023 at 10:49 pm

Contact Dominic: dcchiapp@syr.edu | @DominicChiappo2