Breaking news this morning that Dean Smith passed
last evening. Amid all the deserving accolades as a great basketball coach,
more moving are the accolades for being a great man of principle and integrity.
His former players speak of his role as mentor, father figure, someone who
stayed involved in their lives long after their careers at UNC. And, his
commitment to social justice. This from
the AP story:
Smith's
church served as a base for his advocacy. He joined the Baptist congregation
soon after arriving in Chapel Hill, helping build it from a 60-person gathering
on campus to a full church with 600 parishioners. It was booted from the
Southern Baptist Convention and the North Carolina Baptist State Convention in
1992 for licensing a gay man to minister.
"He was
willing to take controversial stands on a number of things as a member of our
church — being against the death penalty, affirming gays and lesbians,
protesting nuclear proliferation," said Robert Seymour, the former pastor
at Binkley Baptist Church. "He was one who has been willing to speak out
on issues that many might hesitate to take a stand on."
I remember the day in the 1980s when David C and
I went to Chapel Hill to meet him. He had agreed to tape a radio spot for the
nuclear weapons freeze, playing off his strategy of a four-corners freeze
offense in basketball. After the taping he graciously gave us a tour of the
then-new Smith Center arena.
In an era where principle and integrity seem to
be lost, it is worth pausing to remember a man who exemplified both.
