Gifted & GIVING - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, April 27, 2000 by Eric St. John

Professional Black athletes are reaching new levels of charitable gift-giving, and higher education is reaping some of the benefits.

During basketball season here at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena, a group of youngsters ages 8 through 13 can be found watching the action from a section of floor seats known as Reggie's Corner.

The corner is named for former Huskies team captain Reggie Lewis, who passed away suddenly in 1993 at the age of 27 -- having also played basketball for Dunbar High School in Baltimore and later for the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics. Lewis left behind a legacy of giving that continues to benefit Northeastern and the other communities he lived in.

Across campus, at the John D. O'Bryant African American Institute, a technology center serves students as well as the surrounding community. It was funded by the Reggie Lewis Foundation and is an example of the kind of philanthropy that more and more professional athletes are practicing.

"It's a brand new ballgame," says Richard Lapchick, executive officer of Northeastern's Center for the Study of Sport in Society.

Other spectacular donations from Portland Trailblazers guard Steve Smith and New Jersey Nets center Jayson Williams have created a momentum that Lapchick says will induce a lot of athletes to give. "This is the beginning of something very big and very important," he says.

Today, as players' salaries skyrocket, as colleges and universities discover clever ways to get at them and as athletes realize the notoriety that comes with educational philanthropy, more and more institutions are benefiting from the largess of the athletes they helped develop.

In the Name of ...

Ask an athlete to give in a loved one's name, and it's hard for them to say no.

At Michigan State University, for example, Smith, a former Spartan basketball All-American, and his wife, Millie, donated $2.5 million to help build the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, named for his mother.

The $6 million education facility features two computer labs, 62 work stations, a 210-seat auditorium with each seat wired for computer access, two study halls with capacity for 75 people each and 10 tutorial rooms. It also offers a support system for student-athletes with learning disabilities and a career development system to prepare student-athletes for life after graduation.

"He was looking for a way to pay respect to the memory of his beloved mother," says Howard J. Soifer, one of Steve Smith's attorneys. "Michigan State is where he had his basketball ability displayed for the whole country, if not the whole world. It gave him the vehicle to become the outstanding NBA all-star that he is and he felt that because Michigan State was a very important part of his life, he wanted Michigan State to benefit as well as to show his complete devotion to his mother. His sense of loyalty, devotion and character is without a doubt of the highest level."

But Soifer is reluctant to characterize such generosity as part of a trend.

"It can't be forgotten that this donation by Steve was announced in 1997 and we haven't seen anything like it since," he says.

That is, until Jayson Williams, who now plays for the Nets and attended St. John's University in New York, donated $2.1 million to his alma mater recently to set up a scholarship fund in the name of his college coach, Lou Carnesseca.

"It's Jayson's desire for this to make sure that Lou's name is never forgotten here at St. John's -- not that it ever would be. But Jayson just wanted to ensure that," says St. John's spokeswoman Jody Fisher.

Lapchick, who also sits on the board of the Giving Back Fund -- a Boston-based nonprofit that packages foundations for athletes who are looking for charitable outlets -- says the current wave of giving is unprecedented and deserves recognition. "Athletes are using their phenomenal resources for things we haven't thought about before."

And professional women athletes may have the same desire to contribute as their male counterparts. However, the only sports in which these athletes are earning enough to even consider serious philanthropy are tennis, golf and basketball. Even then, the earnings are only a fraction of what the men get. Nonetheless, the women give.

Jennifer Gillom of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury "has donated a significant amount of money to her alma mater, University of Mississippi," says Tracy L. Anderson, a spokeswoman for Gillom. In return, the university is constructing The Gillom Sports Center in her honor.

Spreading the Wealth

The generosity of some professional athletes continues even after their professional careers are over. Northeastern University officials know that they can rely on former Green Bay Packer Sean Jones to provide help. Jones retired from the National Football League in 1997 after a 13-year career as a defensive end.

"Sean Jones has been giving back to Northeastern for years in a very quiet way," says Dr. J. Keith Motley, dean of student services at Northeastern. "If I call Sean and ask him for something for these students, it's here."