Ivy Football Assn Bi-Annual Black Tie Dinner NYC Jan 25, 2007
Bill Primps writes (9/18/06): Our class has been involved in the Ivy Football Association from its inception, and now the IFA, founded in 2001 to celebrate the colleges that gave birth to the sport of football, has set Jan. 25, 2007 as the date for its bi-annual black tie dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
Every other year, the IFA gathers in New York for a celebration that honors a representative of each of the eight Ivy schools for leadership and achievement in his career after undergraduate football days.At the first dinner, in January 2001, Kurt Schmoke was the Yale representative so honored; subsequent honorees have included Hank Paulson of Dartmouth, George Schultz of Princeton, and Tommy Lee Jones of Harvard, all former Ivy footballers. I presently serve as the IFA’s Vice President (Princeton Hall of Fame fullback Cosmo Iacavazzi is President).
Kurt and I would love it if any interested classmates, football ties or not, would join us at this event.Classmates can learn more about the IFA, and can reserve a seat for our upcoming dinner, by going to the IFA website.
Track and field athlete Meredith Rainey Valmon profiled Kurt for the Ivy-at-50 event:
“In his current position as Dean of Howard Law School in Washington, D.C. Kurt Schmoke appears to have found a position that is perfectly suited to him. He has always seemed to position himself to effect positive changes and as Dean, he has the opportunity to teach scores of young people to do the same.
“From quarterbacking his high school football team to a state championship, to becoming Secretary of his class at Yale, to becoming a three-term Mayor of Baltimore, Schmoke has been a leader for much of his life.
“As an outstanding student and athlete during high school in Baltimore, Schmoke attracted the attention of Ivy League schools. Yale, in particular, recruited him heavily, sending its star player, Calvin Hill, to his home to personally recruit him.
“At Yale, Schmoke played defensive back for the Elis, but also immersed himself in campus politics. The political climate during his junior year, the 1969-70 academic year, was especially volatile. In addition to the Vietnam War unrest, and the outrage on campuses nationwide over the Kent State shootings, New Haven was the setting for the controversial trials of several Black Panther members. To many, the Yale campus felt like a tinder box. In the midst of this unusual intersection of circumstances, the university made a unique gesture and invited one student to address the faculty.
“That student was Kurt Schmoke. In the combative environment that characterized the relationship between students and university administrations nationwide, Schmoke used his moment to ask for cooperation and leadership from the Yale faculty and administrators. Instead of using the pulpit to make fiery demands, he asked for their leadership and help to steer Yale through the storm. It was a rare gesture from a student leader during those times, and earned Schmoke widespread respect.”
For Meredith Rainey Valmon’s full story, visit ivy50.com–
–Harry Levitt