March 29, 2018
Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs/Athletics Director David Williams has led some big fundraising campaigns over the course of his career, receiving donations for important projects totaling millions of dollars.
But he says a $500 check handed to him by a young man from Cleveland, Ohio on March 28 may be the “biggest” contribution he’s ever accepted.
The man who handed him the donation at the McGugin Center Wednesday afternoon was an “Ambassador” from the Horvitz YouthAbility program administered by the Jewish Family Services Association of Cleveland. The check was earmarked for the Perry E. Wallace Basketball Scholarship Fund that Williams and his family established earlier this year.
The Ambassador was part of a contingent of 50 people living with Down syndrome and other exceptionalities who read the Young Readers edition of STRONG INSIDE, the biography of Wallace, and decided to spend their Spring Break by busing to Nashville and spending the week walking in Wallace’s trailblazing footsteps.
They visited Pearl High School, where they heard from a former coach and teammate of Wallace’s. They spent a day at Lipscomb Academy Middle School, where they bonded with students who had also all read STRONG INSIDE. They participated in a workshop in the Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library, where they learned about Nashville’s place in the civil rights movement and left behind notes about how they planned to incorporate lessons learned into their own lives. On Wednesday, they met with students at Vanderbilt Hillel (Jewish life center) and toured Memorial Gymnasium, where they saw Wallace’s retired jersey hanging from the rafters and had a chance to shoot baskets on the court where Wallace played from 1966-70 as the first African American basketball player in the Southeastern Conference. Afterward, they cheered on the Vanderbilt women’s lacrosse team in their game against Oregon and made their way to the McGugin Center’s Hendrix Room, where they presented the check to Williams, posed for pictures, and asked questions about Wallace’s legacy at Vanderbilt.
YouthAbility takes a field trip from Cleveland to an interesting historic or cultural site each year. Last year the group went to the Grand Canyon, and previous expeditions have taken them to places such as New York, San Francisco, Disney World and Israel. The Horvitz YouthAbility program serves disabled and at-risk youth by engaging them in volunteer service, vocational services and social enrichment. YouthAbility participants help themselves by helping others.
What an honor that they chose to visit Nashville and Vanderbilt this year. Much of the credit for that goes to Jessi Solomon, a Vanderbilt alum (B.S., ’10, M.D. `14) from Cleveland who worked with the YouthAbility program for years. As an Ingram Scholar at Vanderbilt, Solomon was advised by both Gail Carr Williams (Vanderbilt’s associate director of Community, Neighborhood and Government Relations, and David’s wife) and Candice Lee, Associate Vice Chancellor for University Affairs and Deputy Athletics Director, creating a natural link between YouthAbility and Vanderbilt athletics.
When YouthAbility director Heidi Solomon mentioned she was looking for an educational component for the trip, Elise McMillan at Vanderbilt’s Next Steps program recommended STRONG INSIDE, the original edition of which has been the Martha Rivers Ingram Commons Reading the last two years. Over the last several months, YouthAbility participants read the Young Readers edition of the book and came to greatly admire Wallace for his courage and strength in the face of bullying and hatred. They held a video chat session with author Andrew Maraniss prior to coming to Nashville and prepared posters and skits expressing their admiration for Wallace. Before leaving the Hillel center on Wednesday, they left behind special plates for the upcoming Seder celebration based on the theme of being “strong inside.”
The Ambassadors from Cleveland packed a lot into their journey to town, leaving a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to meet them.
“They were the most delightful people you could ever come in contact with,” Williams said. “Simply incredible.”
The Perry E. Wallace Jr. Basketball Scholarship provides support for student-athletes at Vanderbilt, rotating recipients between the women’s and men’s varsity basketball teams. Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics David Williams and his wife Gail Carr Williams, associate director of Community, Neighborhood and Government Relations at Vanderbilt, made the inaugural charitable contributions for the scholarship, together with their children, Nicholas, Samantha, David III and Erika. To donate to the Perry Wallace Scholarship fund click here.
