Jepson Forum at University of Richmond Will Look at "Sports, Society and Leadership"

September 18, 2001

Sportswriter Frank Deford, NFL Hall of Famer Alan Page and the creators of the museum exhibit "Game Face" will be in the lineup of speakers for the 2001-02 Jepson Leadership Forum at the University of Richmond.

Deford, senior contributing writer of Sports Illustrated, will kick off the series of lectures on "Sports, Society and Leadership" Oct. 1 at the Modlin Center for the Arts. Paul Duke, PBS senior commentator and host emeritus of "Washington Week in Review," will introduce Deford.

A regular commentator on National Public Radio and on the HBO program "RealSports with Bryant Gumbel," Deford has been called "the world's greatest sportswriter" by GQ Magazine.

Herman Boone, legendary football coach of Alexandria's T.C. Williams High School's Titans, will speak on Nov. 6 at Jepson Alumni Center on "Race, Reality and Remembering the Titans." Boone's 1971 team captured a Virginia state championship, and its challenges and triumphs as the first deeply integrated sports team in northern Virginia were the subject of the movie "Remember the Titans," starring Denzel Washington.

James L. Shulman will discuss his new book "The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values" on Nov. 12 at Jepson Alumni Center. The book looks at the role that sports has come to play in admissions at America's colleges and universities and the academic performance and values of college athletes.

Jane Gottesman and Geoffrey Biddle, co-curators and creators of "Game Face," an exhibition currently on display at the Smithsonian, will be the lead speakers of a program "What Does a Female Athlete Look Like Today?" on Nov. 19 at 4:30 p.m. in Jepson Alumni Center. Joining them will be Richmond athletic director Jim Miller; Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation; Jaclyn Raveia, a national scholar athlete of the year who plays professional soccer; and women's professional basketball star Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Mystics.

John Naber, winner of four gold medals in swimming at the 1976 Olympics, will lead a discussion of "The Real Olympic Moment" on Jan. 28 at the Modlin Center. Other panelists scheduled to appear are: Willie Davenport, four-time Olympic hurdler who participated in his fifth Games as a bobsledder; Tae Kwan Do gold medalist Arlene Limas; and paralympian Beth Scott, a blind swimmer who won eight gold medals. Naber will address the essence of honor in competition, the Olympic movement on the eve of the 2002 Winter Games and issues that have recently shaped and tainted the Olympics.

A football star turned state Supreme Court justice, Page will talk about "Living a Worthy
Life after Fame on the Playing Field" Feb. 18 at the Modlin Center. Page is Minnesota's first African-American supreme court justice. One of the Minnesota Vikings vaunted "Purple People Eaters" defensive line of the '70s, he studied law during his NFL career.

University of Richmond basketball coach John Beilein and former coach Dick Tarrant will speak on "Coaching, Motivating and Leading Teams" April 2 at Jepson Alumni Center.

All events in the Jepson Leadership Forum are free and open to the public. The university's Jepson School of Leadership Studies sponsors the series annually.