TROY , Ala. —Joe Malugen, chairman of the board and CEO of Movie Gallery, told Troy University students on Tuesday there are no obstacles too great to keep them from reaching their goals.

Malugen and Dr. Robert Morris, president of the Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, spoke to students and guests during the University’s 10^th annual Helen Keller Lecture.

Recalling a tour of the former Metro, Goldwin & Meyer studio in Hollywood that is home to the “ Yellow Brick Road ” of The Wizard of Oz, Malugen paralleled the lessons of the fictional Dorothy with that of Keller.

“Dorothy’s yellow brick road taught us to keep our dreams alive, to diligently pursue our dreams and, most importantly, that our dreams can be realized,” Malugen said. “Like Dorothy, the legacy of Helen Keller teaches us to hope. She taught us that there are no walls that cannot be climbed. She motivates us to be better and to persevere in the face of obstacles, no matter how daunting.”  

Malugen and Morris both pointed to the work of the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation as an expression of the Keller’s legacy.

“Helen Keller was very interested in vision rehabilitation, but she was also interested in prevention and research,” Morris said. “The Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation is about sharing her interests and about education.”

Morris, who holds seven patents related to eye care and is co-founder of the Retina Research Foundation of Alabama, The Eye Injury Registry of Alabama, the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation and the United States Eye Injury Registry, said the foundation had been instrumental in the advancement of eye research.

“Until 1950, if you had a detached retina, you lost your sight,” Morris said. “It wasn’t until the last quarter of the 20^th century that we began to see advancements in procedures on the eye.”

Malugen, who himself suffered a detached retina and clouding of the center of the eye and the lens that required three surgeries to correct, said the work being done by the foundation is vital to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of sight loss. He announced that a Movie Gallery fundraiser that ended on Monday had raised $700,000 for the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation, bringing the company’s total to $1.2 million committed to the cause over the last two years.

The Keller lecture is designed to promote awareness of people who excel in their chosen fields despite physical limitations. The lecture is sponsored by Troy University , the Alabama Department of Education, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation.