U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says it was the positive influence of the Catholic sisters who taught him as a child for reinforcing him in a positive way.

Oregon Live is reporting that Justice Thomas made these comments during an event last week at the University of Portland. Entitled, “A Conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas,” the session consisted of a question and answer forum with faculty, staff and students prior to the annual Red Mass celebrated by Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland.

Thomas spoke about his humble roots in Pin Point, Georgia where he shared a one-bedroom house with his grandfather and brother. He was poor and black and living in the South, but he drew strength from the Irish sisters who taught him that African-Americans were equal to white people.

“I read these narratives about the South, and they all have us crawling through dirt, and when we’re not crawling, we’re running from the Klan,” he said. “I lived with people that were positive and reinforcing and directed us in a certain way.”

In fact, it was because of the nuns’ positive influence on his life that Thomas decided to devote himself to inspiring “kids from modest backgrounds, kids whose parents had to decide between the rent and braces.”

“They are the people who reflect the American dream,” he said. “They don’t need you to carry them. They just need a part of your life to give them guidance.”

Justice Thomas, who rarely appears in public, agreed to speak at the University after promising the school’s president, Father E. William Beauchamp, that he would do so in return for a past favor.

“Some years ago, Father Beauchamp did me a favor to help me help someone I care deeply about,” Thomas explained during the event. “I promised him I’d come to the University of Portland one day. It probably caused him more trouble than he wanted.”

The “someone” he cared about was a junior at the school named Dakota Garza, who was homeless when she met Thomas. Garza managed to graduate high school with high grades, but did not have the money to afford a college education.  She won a handful of scholarships, but not nearly enough to cover the $37,000 a year tuition plus room and board.

Thomas asked the University, and the Horatio Alger Association, a nonprofit of which he is a member, if they could help her.

They agreed. Garza, who is now a student in the Nursing School, was sitting in the audience during Thomas’ talk.

At the end of the talk, she reportedly left the hall alone – and smiling.

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