Jan. 13, 2009
ATLANTA, Ga. — Vanderbilt senior Rob Whiting is among five collegiate nominees for the fifth annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, which will be presented Wednesday during a banquet hosted by Athletes for a Better World.
The Wooden Cup is given to a collegiate and a professional athlete who have made the greatest positive influence in the lives of others. The award recipients will be announced at a ceremony held at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club.
With previous professional recipients include Peyton Manning, John Smoltz, John Lynch, and Andrea Yaeger, the Wooden Cup has quickly become one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports. Recipients are considered role models and athletes of excellence both on and off the field.
Founded by Athletes for a Better World (ABW), a non-profit organization committed to changing the culture of American sports, the Wooden Cup is unique in that it is open to athletes in all collegiate and professional sports. Nominations come from every conference in the NCAA.
This season’s professional honoree is baseball’s “Iron Man” Cal Ripken. The Baltimore Oriole great received the third highest vote tally in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and has been named by Condoleeza Rice as a Special Sports Envoy for the US State Department traveling the world as a spokesperson for character, fair play and sportsmanship. Now a successful businessman owning several teams, businesses, as well as heading “Ripken baseball” for 800,000 kids aged 4-12, Ripken has become an American institution whose life is an example of “winning more than the game,” the slogan of ABW.
Along with Ripken, Whiting will be joined in Atlanta fellow collegiate nominees Ryan Adler (Hobart College ice hockey), Andrew Berry (Harvard football), Lauren Mioton (Purdue basketball) and Tim Tebow (Florida football).
As part of the Ingram Scholars program, Whiting has demonstrated a willingness and ability to combine a professional career with a lifelong commitment to finding solutions to critical societal problems. Whiting founded Vanderbilt Students for Students, which “strives to build a bridge connecting the Vanderbilt Community with local, under-resourced high schools in order to expand educational opportunities and build mutual understanding.”
The Wooden Cup is named in honor of John Wooden, one of the most successful coaches in collegiate history. Wooden’s legacy as a person of integrity, high moral character, compassion, and civic-mindedness continues to make him one of the most admired coaches in the history of sport.
Recipients of the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup are chosen by a committee chaired by Vincent Dooley, former University of Georgia athletic director, and other distinguished individuals involved in athletics across the country.
About Athletes for a Better World:
Founded in 1998, Athletes for a Better World (ABW) exists to change the culture of sport by developing individual character, teamwork, and civic responsibility through commitment to the Code for Living. ABW’s vision is to have the Code become a part of every sport at every level, so that it becomes the common language and standard expectation of behavior for everyone. ABW provides free support and resources to coaches and athletes across the country who want to teach and live out these values. “The Code for Living” can be found on playing fields, locker rooms and athletic facilities across the country. Currently, ABW players and coaches are represented in every state and several foreign countries.
