BY J. ROBIN MCCLAIREN
There are a lot of kids in the world who get told “no” when they set out to pursue their dreams. No, you’re not good enough. No, you can’t afford it. No, you don’t have the right connections or the right background.
But for my family, that “no” was just the beginning. It all started when my dad, a young football player in Panama City, didn’t make FAMU’s football team. The legendary coach Jake Gaither said he didn’t have the talent to be a Rattler.
Well, that didn’t stop Dad. He called his former principal at Rutherford High School, who just happened to be Richard V. Moore, then-president of Bethune-Cookman College, and asked if the Wildcats had a spot for him. They did … so Dad packed up his things and headed to Daytona.
Dr. Mary McCleod Bethune, the civil rights leader who founded the college in 1904 as a school for young Black women, believed that “without faith, nothing is possible … but with it, nothing is impossible.” Education isn’t about what you can’t do. It’s about nurturing potential to help you achieve more than you thought you could – even things people told you were out of your reach.
For my dad, that moment came in 1952, when he scored the winning touchdown to beat FAMU in the Wildcats’ first-ever Florida Classic win, proving that he was more than “good enough.” He proved it again in 1955, when he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first-ever Wildcat to make it to the pros.
And when a double knee injury forced him to retire from professional sports, he decided to turn that “no” into a “yes,” too. He joined Bethune-Cookman University as head football coach, head basketball coach and athletic director until 1973. He then served as head basketball coach, assistant golf coach and other athletic responsibilities at key points in the program’s growth. In keeping with the school’s motto – “enter to learn; depart to serve” – he devoted himself wholeheartedly to supporting young athletes like himself.
During Dad’s five and a half decades of service, he passed on his love of education to both his students and his family. He and my mom, a fellow Wildcat and former “Miss B-CC,” are the proud parents of three B-CU graduates, and persuaded three other relatives to attend. And while we finally persuaded Dad to retire in 2016 (when he was well into his 80s), his lifetime of service became part of the family legacy.
Today, I work at the college myself in the Office of Institutional Advancement, where we provide scholarships and opportunities for our students and invest in educational facilities and programs, opening doors for students like my father.
In honor of the university’s 120th anniversary this year, we’re looking back on all the ways Dr. Bethune’s legacy has shaped not only the lives of her students, but also entire families and communities. And we hope to reflect that impact through a new addition to our motto: “Where nothing is impossible.”
For many young adults in America, the world is still full of barriers, rejections, and gaps in access to education. But that’s changing, slowly and steadily … and thanks to the generosity of donors who give in support of B-CU’s Office of Institutional Advancement, we’re saying “yes” – one student at a time. To be part of ensuring that Dr. Bethune’s legacy continues to live on, visit www.Cookman.edu or call (386) 481-2951.
J. Robin McClairen is an Advancement Coordinator and graduated from Bethune-Cookman University in 1977.
