I read this article not long ago and since then there has been a recurring theme in other news-related items that I have come across. In 1981, Joe Purzycki was named head football coach for Delaware State University, a Division I-AA historically black university in Dover, Delaware. Prior to Purzycki’s appointment, the Hornets went 2-9 the year before and included the most lopsided loss in Division I-AA football history (a 105-0 pummeling from Portland State which led 49-0 after the first quarter). Nelson Townsend was the athletic director at the time who hired Purzycki; Townsend is black and Purzycki is white. Turns out Purzycki became the country’s first white head football coach of a historically black college or university (HBCU). Over the course of four seasons, the Hornets saw dramatic improvements and finished 8-2 in Purzycki’s final season with the team. Nearly forty years later the coach coauthored a book on his experience at Delaware State and how common ground was established despite all the racial tension by never failing to acknowledge what his players had experienced.
A principal in Minnesota provided the ultimate lesson in acknowledgement when he surprised his 7th grade student last week. Jonathan Jones attends Lakeview School in Cottonwood, MN, and his principal is Scott Hanson. It turns out the student and principal have a special connection in that they are both extremely color blind. For Jonathan, doctors first identified this condition three years ago although he likely has had it since birth. For his principal, it has also been a lifelong condition but he has specially designed glasses which increase the contrast between shades and help to reduce the symptoms of color blindness. With Jonathan’s parents on hand, this principal served as a guest instructor during Jonathan’s science class and allowed him to try out his special glasses. It took less than ten seconds before Jonathan was overcome with emotion in a now viral video. The full story can be found here and his principal’s reflection speaks volumes. “I’ve been in education for 25 years, and to see that reaction on his face, and that pure joy and overwhelming happiness and sadness, all those emotions at once, was just an awesome experience.”
And then there is Dhruv Gaur, the reigning college champion on Jeopardy. When competing last month in the annual Tournament of Champions, he wrote this message for his Final Jeopardy answer.
The clue was “In the title of a groundbreaking exposé of poverty in New York City slums, these three words follow ‘How the,’ ” and the answer-in-the-form-of-a-question the beloved game show host was looking for was, “What is ‘Other Half Lives?’” Trebek had shared with the contestants before the show that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer. Gaur was in a distant third place when they got to the last question so he instead took the opportunity to offer support (you can click the image above for the complete story). In his own words, Gaur recalls “Obviously I wasn’t going to win the game or anything, so I could try to figure out the right answer or I could do something for this person who might need it right now.” After thirty five years leading the iconic game show, a simple gesture almost brought the steady showman to tears.
Acknowledgments are powerful testimonies and sometimes they just might mean everything.
What if? Why Not? 