CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SPORT IN SOCIETY

Center for the Study of Sport in Society

AWARDS BANQUET & HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONÍ

NOVEMBER 19, 1996

BOSTON'S PARK PLAZA HOTEL

BOSTON, MA -- Since Sport in Society's founding in 1984, an important part of its mission has been to honor and acknowledge those individuals who, through their involvement with sport, have helped bring about positive social change. Sport in Society's Annual Awards Banquet has become an annual "sellout," attracting some of the most visible names in our nation's sport industry, as well as from Boston's corporate community.

The event, held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel on November 19, 1996, was the most successful fund-raising event in Sport in Society's 13 year history. For the sixth consecutive year, ABC and ESPN commentator Dick Schaap was the master of ceremonies.

Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society honored recipients of the Excellence in Journalism Awards, Giant Steps Awards, the inductee into the Sport in Society Hall of Fame, and a Corporate Goodwill Award.

As America hosted the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, Sport in Society presented a new Giant Steps Award category of Torchbearer to individuals who demonstrated exceptional commitment to Olympic ideals and provided outstanding leadership to the international sports community.

1996 Hall of Fame Inductee:
Although Wilma Rudolph's athletic career was relatively short, her influence on the world of sport was profound and lasting. More than any other athlete, she is credited with inspiring young women to participate in track and field. Plagued by illness as a child and unable to walk properly until the age of eleven, Wilma Rudolph overcame adversity to become the top woman sprinter in the world at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, winning three gold medals. Returning to her hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee, Rudolph insisted that the parade and dinner given in her honor be racially integrated. In 1982, she founded The Wilma Rudolph Foundation, an organization that provided opportunities for boys and girls to compete in sports and excel in academics.

1996 Giants Steps Awards:
Courageous Student-Athlete: Jennifer Rizzotti
Jennifer Rizzotti was the heart and soul of the University of Connecticut's 1995 NCAA National Championship Women's Basketball Team and the 1996 season's Final Four squad. She demonstrated an incredible talent on the court and a strong dedication to community service. The winner of the Wade Trophy as National Player of the Year and the GTE Women's Basketball National Academic All-American of the Year Award, Rizzotti's intense desire to be the best that she can possibly be in everything she does epitomized the term "role model."

Courageous Student-Athlete: Michael Watson
Michael Watson was a 1995 graduate of Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In October 1994, Watson, who is African-American, was preparing for his senior year as a basketball player at Mount St. Mary's when he was attacked by three white men. An all-white jury ruled the assailants to be not guilty on assault charges as well as committing a hate crime, despite the fact that there was a videotape of the attack. However, Watson refused to become bitter. He continued to work hard in school, and lead the basketball team to victory in the Northeast Conference Championship and to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Coach: David Clark
David Clark contracted polio when he was just ten months old. Despite being relegated to crutches, he has never felt handicapped or limited. Clark is the coach and owner of an Indianapolis barnstorming baseball team, coaches a professional team in Sweden and is a major league scout with the Florida Marlins. During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, he served as the baseball supervisor of sports information. Clark's determination and courage have made him an inspiration to everyone he works with.

Civic Leaders: Paul Tagliabue and Gene Upshaw
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Executive Director of the NFLPA Gene Upshaw, orchestrated a $1 million donation to the United Negro College Fund to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the College Fund. Over 250,000 men and women have graduated from historically black colleges and universities, including hundreds of NFL players. The NFL and NFLPA have continually shown their commitment to education through player education programs and this donation.

Torchbearer: Loretta Claiborne
Despite having been diagnosed mentally retarded and blind, Ms. Claiborne has achieved greatness in her life. Claiborne has earned her high school degree, a fourth degree black belt, completed 25 marathons, including finishing in the top 100 women in the 1982 Boston Marathon, is a member of the Board of Directors of Special Olympics International, and has received an honorary doctorate. In addition to capturing two gold medals at the 1983 World Games, winning the mile and standing long jump, she was the 1990 Special Olympics Athlete of the Year.

Torchbearer: Anita DeFrantz
Considered the most powerful woman in international sports, Ms. DeFrantz is Vice President of the International Olympic Committee. An active member of the Olympic community for over 20 years, Ms. DeFrantz was the first African-American rower to compete in the Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 1976. She is currently the President of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, one of America's largest foundations working directly with youth through sports.

Torchbearer: Billy Payne
A former All-American at the University of Georgia, Billy Payne exemplified the message to today's youth of fulfilling dreams and realizing potential through hard work and perseverance. He saw his dream to fruition by bringing the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta. As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, Payne's goal was to increase international understanding and cooperation through sport.

1996 Excellence in Sports Journalism Awards
The 1996 Excellence in Sports Journalism Awards, presented by Sport in Society and Northeastern University's School of Journalism, recognized outstanding coverage of the social relevance of sports. They are the first sports journalism award ever given by a university.

Broadcast Media: HBO's "REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel"
Using cutting-edge material in covering the social side of sports, HBO's REAL Sports examines the issues, personalities and controversies that dominate the world of sports. In addition to host Bryant Gumbel, the sports news program features an all-star lineup of contributors, including Jim Lampley, James Brown, Frank Deford, Larry Merchant, and Sonja Steptoe; and writers Ira Berkow, Robert Lipsyte and William Rhoden. Ross Greenburg is the executive producer.

Print Media: Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated
What happens when a teenage basketball star who has never had a blemish on his record pleads guilty to sexual assault? Gary Smith's "Crime and Punishment" (Sports Illustrated, June 4, 1996) revealed the shattered dreams, altered careers, and changed lives that resulted in Richie Parker's January 1995 court appearance. In the article, sports had become the stage where great moral issues were played out, forcing the reader to consider perceptions and concepts of crime, punishment, morality, hypocrisy and redemption. A Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, Smith became the first two-time winner of this award.

1996 Corporate Goodwill Award: Scott Black, Delphi Management, Inc.
Scott Black was the inaugural Sport in Society Corporate Goodwill Award winner. This award will annually recognize a business, organization or individual whose dedication and financial support help Sport in Society carry out its mission. Since 1984, Scott has donated more than $500,000 to Sport in Society's School Outreach and Community Service, which has reached more than 600,000 young people.

"Scott Black is the foundation upon which Sport in Society has sat for the past 12 years," said Richard Lapchick. "He was with us when no one else was."

A Special Tribute: John A. Curry
It was with great pleasure that we dedicated the 1996 Awards Banquet to John A. Curry. Curry, who served as president of Northeastern University from 1989 to 1996, was the first Northeastern graduate to lead the nation�s foremost cooperative education program. Jack Curry helped establish Sport in Society at Northeastern University and launch nationally acclaimed programs such as Project TEAMWORK. During our work together, he showed a keen understanding of the potential for sport to have a positive impact on society, and enthusiastically supported our efforts to continue our mission.

Honorary Chairperson: President Bill Clinton
Once again Northeastern University was privileged to have President Bill Clinton serve as our Honorary Banquet Chairperson. In April 1996, President Clinton welcomed our Giant Steps Award winners to a private ceremony at the White House as part of National STUDENT-Athlete Day (NSAD).

The Banquet Co-Chairs were George Behrakis, President and CEO of Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Larry Moulter, President of Woolf Associates


	1996 SPORT IN SOCIETY AWARDS BANQUET:
AWARDS BANQUET & HALL OF FAME INDUCTION Honorary Chairperson President Bill Clinton Banquet Co-Chairs George Behrakis Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc. Larry Moulter Woolf Associates 1996 Banquet Sponsors -HALL OF FAME - American Airlines Bob Woolf Associates Delphi Management, Inc. ESPN, Inc. The Gillette Company Major League Baseball Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc. National Basketball Association National Football League NFL Players Association Nike Inc. Sports Rado WEEI 850 Walt Disney World Sports Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers - BENEFACTOR - The Anheuser-Busch Companies Bennetton Sportsystem HBO Sports Liz Claiborne, Inc. MASS AV National Hockey League New England Patriots Northeastern University: College of Arts and Sciences Office of Development Office of the President NYNEX The Reebok Foundation The Rendon Group Sports Illustrated The Sporting News USA Group / Noel Levitz - GRAD PATRON - Anonymous BankBoston Barnes & Noble, NU Bookstore Beckwith Elevator Boston Athletic Association Boston College Camp Dresser & Mckee Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts Consolidated Service Corporation Coopers &Lybrand Costello Contracting Daka Restaurants EASTPAK Filene's Basement Golf Technologies Houghton Chemical Corp. Jackson Construction Company Mintz, Levin, Chon, Ferris, Golvsky & Popeo, P.C. Northeastern University: College of Business Administration Department of Athletics Ortho USA, Inc. Pressley Associates Pride Technologies, Inc. Raytheon Company State Street Bank & Trust Company The Stride Rite Foundation University of Connecticut HALL OF FAME \| NEW ENGLAND HERO \| EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS JOURNALISM CORPORATE GOODWILL \| AWARDS INDEX	Center for the Study of Sport in Society AWARDS BANQUET & HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONÍ NOVEMBER 19, 1996 BOSTON'S PARK PLAZA HOTEL BOSTON, MA -- Since Sport in Society's founding in 1984, an important part of its mission has been to honor and acknowledge those individuals who, through their involvement with sport, have helped bring about positive social change. Sport in Society's Annual Awards Banquet has become an annual "sellout," attracting some of the most visible names in our nation's sport industry, as well as from Boston's corporate community. The event, held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel on November 19, 1996, was the most successful fund-raising event in Sport in Society's 13 year history. For the sixth consecutive year, ABC and ESPN commentator Dick Schaap was the master of ceremonies. Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society honored recipients of the Excellence in Journalism Awards, Giant Steps Awards, the inductee into the Sport in Society Hall of Fame, and a Corporate Goodwill Award. As America hosted the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, Sport in Society presented a new Giant Steps Award category of Torchbearer to individuals who demonstrated exceptional commitment to Olympic ideals and provided outstanding leadership to the international sports community. 1996 Hall of Fame Inductee: Although Wilma Rudolph's athletic career was relatively short, her influence on the world of sport was profound and lasting. More than any other athlete, she is credited with inspiring young women to participate in track and field. Plagued by illness as a child and unable to walk properly until the age of eleven, Wilma Rudolph overcame adversity to become the top woman sprinter in the world at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, winning three gold medals. Returning to her hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee, Rudolph insisted that the parade and dinner given in her honor be racially integrated. In 1982, she founded The Wilma Rudolph Foundation, an organization that provided opportunities for boys and girls to compete in sports and excel in academics. 1996 Giants Steps Awards: Courageous Student-Athlete: Jennifer Rizzotti Jennifer Rizzotti was the heart and soul of the University of Connecticut's 1995 NCAA National Championship Women's Basketball Team and the 1996 season's Final Four squad. She demonstrated an incredible talent on the court and a strong dedication to community service. The winner of the Wade Trophy as National Player of the Year and the GTE Women's Basketball National Academic All-American of the Year Award, Rizzotti's intense desire to be the best that she can possibly be in everything she does epitomized the term "role model." Courageous Student-Athlete: Michael Watson Michael Watson was a 1995 graduate of Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In October 1994, Watson, who is African-American, was preparing for his senior year as a basketball player at Mount St. Mary's when he was attacked by three white men. An all-white jury ruled the assailants to be not guilty on assault charges as well as committing a hate crime, despite the fact that there was a videotape of the attack. However, Watson refused to become bitter. He continued to work hard in school, and lead the basketball team to victory in the Northeast Conference Championship and to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Coach: David Clark David Clark contracted polio when he was just ten months old. Despite being relegated to crutches, he has never felt handicapped or limited. Clark is the coach and owner of an Indianapolis barnstorming baseball team, coaches a professional team in Sweden and is a major league scout with the Florida Marlins. During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, he served as the baseball supervisor of sports information. Clark's determination and courage have made him an inspiration to everyone he works with. Civic Leaders: Paul Tagliabue and Gene Upshaw NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Executive Director of the NFLPA Gene Upshaw, orchestrated a $1 million donation to the United Negro College Fund to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the College Fund. Over 250,000 men and women have graduated from historically black colleges and universities, including hundreds of NFL players. The NFL and NFLPA have continually shown their commitment to education through player education programs and this donation. Torchbearer: Loretta Claiborne Despite having been diagnosed mentally retarded and blind, Ms. Claiborne has achieved greatness in her life. Claiborne has earned her high school degree, a fourth degree black belt, completed 25 marathons, including finishing in the top 100 women in the 1982 Boston Marathon, is a member of the Board of Directors of Special Olympics International, and has received an honorary doctorate. In addition to capturing two gold medals at the 1983 World Games, winning the mile and standing long jump, she was the 1990 Special Olympics Athlete of the Year. Torchbearer: Anita DeFrantz Considered the most powerful woman in international sports, Ms. DeFrantz is Vice President of the International Olympic Committee. An active member of the Olympic community for over 20 years, Ms. DeFrantz was the first African-American rower to compete in the Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 1976. She is currently the President of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, one of America's largest foundations working directly with youth through sports. Torchbearer: Billy Payne A former All-American at the University of Georgia, Billy Payne exemplified the message to today's youth of fulfilling dreams and realizing potential through hard work and perseverance. He saw his dream to fruition by bringing the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta. As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, Payne's goal was to increase international understanding and cooperation through sport. 1996 Excellence in Sports Journalism Awards The 1996 Excellence in Sports Journalism Awards, presented by Sport in Society and Northeastern University's School of Journalism, recognized outstanding coverage of the social relevance of sports. They are the first sports journalism award ever given by a university. Broadcast Media: HBO's "REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel" Using cutting-edge material in covering the social side of sports, HBO's REAL Sports examines the issues, personalities and controversies that dominate the world of sports. In addition to host Bryant Gumbel, the sports news program features an all-star lineup of contributors, including Jim Lampley, James Brown, Frank Deford, Larry Merchant, and Sonja Steptoe; and writers Ira Berkow, Robert Lipsyte and William Rhoden. Ross Greenburg is the executive producer. Print Media: Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated What happens when a teenage basketball star who has never had a blemish on his record pleads guilty to sexual assault? Gary Smith's "Crime and Punishment" (Sports Illustrated, June 4, 1996) revealed the shattered dreams, altered careers, and changed lives that resulted in Richie Parker's January 1995 court appearance. In the article, sports had become the stage where great moral issues were played out, forcing the reader to consider perceptions and concepts of crime, punishment, morality, hypocrisy and redemption. A Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, Smith became the first two-time winner of this award. 1996 Corporate Goodwill Award: Scott Black, Delphi Management, Inc. Scott Black was the inaugural Sport in Society Corporate Goodwill Award winner. This award will annually recognize a business, organization or individual whose dedication and financial support help Sport in Society carry out its mission. Since 1984, Scott has donated more than $500,000 to Sport in Society's School Outreach and Community Service, which has reached more than 600,000 young people. "Scott Black is the foundation upon which Sport in Society has sat for the past 12 years," said Richard Lapchick. "He was with us when no one else was." A Special Tribute: John A. Curry It was with great pleasure that we dedicated the 1996 Awards Banquet to John A. Curry. Curry, who served as president of Northeastern University from 1989 to 1996, was the first Northeastern graduate to lead the nation�s foremost cooperative education program. Jack Curry helped establish Sport in Society at Northeastern University and launch nationally acclaimed programs such as Project TEAMWORK. During our work together, he showed a keen understanding of the potential for sport to have a positive impact on society, and enthusiastically supported our efforts to continue our mission. Honorary Chairperson: President Bill Clinton Once again Northeastern University was privileged to have President Bill Clinton serve as our Honorary Banquet Chairperson. In April 1996, President Clinton welcomed our Giant Steps Award winners to a private ceremony at the White House as part of National STUDENT-Athlete Day (NSAD). The Banquet Co-Chairs were George Behrakis, President and CEO of Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Larry Moulter, President of Woolf Associates
	Northeastern University's CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SPORT IN SOCIETY 360 Huntington Avenue, Suite 161 CP Boston, MA 02115-5000 Phone: (617) 373-4025 Fax: (617) 373-4566 / 2092 E-MAIL US at [email protected]
MAIN \|\| AIS \|\| MVP \|\| PTW \|\| UYS \|\| SCAP \|\| DSRI \| \|NCAS