Everyone was talking about Tracy Marrow, better known by his stage name as Ice-T, coming to speak at UMass Boston’s Campus Center Ballroom from 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6. More than 700 turned out to the event, planned by the Student Arts & Events Council (SAEC).

Ice-T talked about his career success, personal life, and how he handles dealing with the fame earned from his time working on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” 

“They wanted me doing ‘Law and Order: SVU’ for four shows, and I ended up on it for 14 years,” Ice-T said.

He later shared some “gang rhymes” freestyles, and related to the audience by sharing information about the ups and downs of his life.

“Today what I want to do is kind of give you a rough and tumble outline of life through my eyes … I want to instill courage, and I want you to know that you don’t have to change; you should just be yourself,” said Ice-T.

He spoke about how people refer to him as sexist and joked, “I ain’t sexist, I’m just on the male team.”

One of the many students in attendance, senior Rhode Viljean, took something away from Ice-T’s speech. “I can’t believe how many people actually showed up. I really liked his performance – he did a good job. Learning about the story of his life, from someone who grew up having nothing, he really made a name for himself. That’s a great example of showing how anyone can change their life for the better. It was quite inspiring.”

Another student added, “I think Ice-T did a good job at answering some of the questions that people around our age are trying to find out. Overall, he kept it real.”

After Ice-T spoke, there was a Q and A session where students were allowed to ask him questions about anything. One of the questions asked was, “Did you ever see yourself wanting to be an actor?” Ice-T responded, “Yes, I wanted to do it. You got to envision yourself doing it. Set your goals high.”