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Sports Illustrated Picks Four

When Sports Illustrated named its '101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports' in May 2003, it was not surprising to see 12 Ivy League graduates on that list. The Ivy League has a rich athletic history and a reputation for producing future leaders. That combination has produced many successful athletes and administrators who contribute in numerous ways to the sports world.

But for many Ivy Leaguers, mutual accomplishment takes a back seat to old rivalries. For them, the question becomes, which of the eight schools had the most alumni on SI's list? And even though Harvard, Penn, and Princeton all contributed multiple graduates, Dartmouth topped its rivals with four -- Reggie Williams '76, Jimmie Lee Solomon '78; Kery Davis '79; and Pamela Wheeler '89.

That may be surprising considering Dartmouth's small student body and isolated location. However, according to Williams, a former Cincinnati Bengals star, these factors aid in future success of Big Green alumni.

"I think what makes Dartmouth unique is that it is the smallest Ivy League institution, extremely isolated and, for African-Americans, in one of the areas of the United States that has the most cultural depravation,' said Williams. "Therefore, the issues of brotherhood, culturehood, loyalty, reliance upon self, and pursuit of success beyond your own boundaries are all innately instilled and have manifested themselves in many different ways throughout our collective lifetimes."

For football fans who were watching the NFL in the 1970s and 1980s, Williams needs no introduction. At Dartmouth, he was a three-year starter at linebacker and remains one of the greats in Dartmouth football history.

After his 1976 graduation, Williams was drafted in the third round by Cincinnati and he would have a 13-year career for the Bengals and twice start in the Super Bowl. However, in both 1982 and 1989, Williams' Bengals were defeated on Super Sunday by the San Francisco 49ers.

In 1987, Williams received one of the most exclusive honors in all of sports, as a co-winner of Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year Award.

That year, Sports Illustrated gave the award to 'Athletes Who Care' and expressed their compassion by aiding their communities. Williams was recognized for his work with the Cincinnati Speech and Hearing Center and The Reggie Williams Scholarship Fund, which helped inner-Cincinnati high school kids pursue a college education.

In a recent interview, Williams compared his two largest accomplishments in sports. He asserted that "Winning the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year was a bigger achievement than playing in the Super Bowl because I won the SI Sportsman of the Year and I lost two Super Bowls. That having been said, there's nothing like taking the stage of the BIG SHOW."

After leaving professional football, Williams spent two terms on the Cincinnati City Council before reentering the world of sports. In 1993, he joined Disney's sports development team and was soon promoted to vice president in charge of Disney's Wide World of Sports®.

Today, Williams oversees a 200-acre sports complex that has multiple baseball, softball, basketball, track, soccer, tennis, and football facilities. Williams claims that Disney's complex "is the only place in the world that kids can play and compete on the same world-class sports facility as the top professional athletes in the world." The complex hosts preseason training camps for three professional sports organizations and events for more than 100,000 children every year.

Even though Williams is proud of the Disney's current sports complex, he has some impressive future plans. "We continually look at ways to differentiate the vacation experience through the thrill of sports and recreation." Some projects that he is currently working on include Disney's Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, 99 holes of championship golf, and the WDW Speedway.

Williams attributes much of his success to lessons he learned while at Dartmouth. "There is no doubt that my Ivy League experience was my coming-of-age breakthrough ... More than anything, by embarking on so many unique challenges both on campus and off, I felt when I graduated that I truly had the confidence to know what it took to learn whatever necessary to be successful."

When asked about his Dartmouth classmates on the SI's list, Williams responded, "While I know of both Kery's and Pamela's accomplishments, Jimmie Lee was a classmate, teammate, and fraternity brother. While the stuff you really want to know is mutually off limits, I'm proud to say that Jimmie Lee is one of my best friends even today. He's like a little brother only better, he doesn't ask for money."

There is a reason Solomon doesn't ask for money. As the Senior Vice President of Operations for Major League Baseball, Solomon enjoys a very successful career of his own. Over the past couple of years, he has initiated several projects designed to expand baseball's audience and encourage young athletes to pursue America's pastime. Ironically, when he was at Dartmouth, Solomon never performed on the baseball diamond, but excelled on the football field and was named All-Ivy as a sprinter.

After graduation, Solomon said, "I was hoping to play in the NFL." But after being turned down by the Houston Oilers, he decided to give up his football dream and begin a new future at Harvard Law School.

Solomon made his move into baseball in 1991. After nine years of overseeing minor league operations, Solomon was promoted to his current position. "Basically, I'm a boring administrator," claims Solomon, "but my passion is to develop projects. I decided I'm not going to stay within the box of my job description. I want to let my passion dictate what my job is and who I am in this industry."

One of Solomon's special projects is the Futures Game, a minor league All-Star game that showcases the best young talent. Solomon designed this event to expose young and rising stars to Major League Baseball fans and promote interest in the games future.

Solomon's biggest project is the construction of baseball academies in urban areas. Currently there are academies in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and throughout Latin America. This is where young Latino prospects are discovered and trained. Seeing the level of success that Latinos are experiencing in baseball, Solomon decided to bring the academies to America and is currently working with major league teams, encouraging them to build academies in large American cities to reintroduce baseball to urban children.

"This is where I'm going to be an agent for change," said Solomon. "The baseball academies will bring a bricks and mortar presence that supports the Reviving Baseball (RBI) program. My hope is that every major league club will want an academy in the shadow of their own ballpark."

Solomon doesn't think these facilities have to be big and magnificent. "Jazz up an existing area, build a clubhouse and classrooms," he said. "The concept is more than baseball instruction and clinics. The academies will teach other skills -- groundskeeping, umpiring, scouting plus computer skills.

And while Solomon is looking out for young baseball players, Pamela Wheeler, Class of '89, has the best interests of women's basketball players at heart.

When the WNBA formed in 1997, it was a huge financial and administrative commitment. As the league has struggled to find its niche in the sports community, Wheeler has become an important figure in the league. As the Director of Operations for the Women's National Basketball Players Association, she manages the daily operations and business goals of the association.

Wheeler has also initiated numerous player and agent regulations programs such as graduate school tuition reimbursement, career apprenticeships, financial planning, emotional and mental health support, substance abuse education and career management. And the Players' Association works closely with its Executive Committee, which presently consists of Sonja Henning, Coquese Washington, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Olympia Scott-Richardson.

And when people are talking about big names in boxing, athletes like Lennox Lewis and Roy Jones Jr. seem to get all the attention. But Dartmouth graduate Kery Davis deserves recognition for maintaining boxing's mainstream appeal and growth.

As Senior Vice President of Sports Programming for HBO, Davis has overseen the improved ratings for 'Boxing After Dark;' and World Championship Boxing on the 'Network of Champions.' He has orchestrated deals with many of the premier prizefighters and promoters.

In his days in Hanover, Davis was a basketball player for Dartmouth.

Over the past several decades, the number of minorities participating in amateur and professional athletics has continuously increased; however, relatively few minorities have found opportunities in upper level sports administration.

The outstanding careers of Reggie Williams, Jimmie Lee Solomon, Pamela Wheeler and Kery Davis are blazing new trails and ensuring equal opportunity for future sports executives. Therefore their accomplishments should be a source of pride for all Ivy Leaguers, not just those from Hanover.

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