‘You possess the power’

“Be kind. Make a difference,” the keynote speaker told student athletes being honored at New Mexico State University’s Sneakers and Suits Gala Feb. 21 at Stan Fulton Center on the NMSU campus.

“You positively impact people simply by being an athlete,” Melvin Turner III told the Aggies, who were honored for their achievements in the classroom as well as on the athletic field during the event, which was hosted by NMSU Black Programs, the NMSU Men of Color initiative and the NMSU Department of Athletics. Use that, he said, to inspire and motivate others.

Turner said he and his four siblings – including younger brother Patrick Turner, who is NMSU associate provost for student success – grew up in a government housing project in Birmingham, Alabama in an environment of crime and violence.

An outstanding high school athlete in four sports, Turner said he wanted something better, and “to do something positive,” he said.

Raised by a single mother who was “stronger than any man,” Turner overcame personal “bitterness and anger because of my environment” to attend Mississippi State University on a track and football scholarship. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and also holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Christian Life School of Theology in Columbus, Georgia and a master’s in public management from Troy University in Troy, Alabama, and completed the Financial Management Certificate Program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

“You have to persist even when you think the world is unfair,” Turner said. “You possess the power to fail or succeed. You have that authority.”

NMSU student athletes, who “work hard at a chosen sport but also in the classroom,” have maintained a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the past 35 semesters, said gala co-host Bobbie Green, who is interim director of Black Programs and president of the Doña Ana Chapter of the NAACP.

“It’s our job to make sure you feel supported,” said gala co-host Patrick Turner.

Student athletes inject “passionate spirit and excitement” into the community, said Associated Students of NMSU President Garrett Mosley. Their “individual academic achievement continues to encourage and inspire the people around them.”

“As a student athlete, I learned that leadership is not a position, it’s a disposition,” said NMSU Vice President for Student Success Renay Scott.

The connectedness offered by college athletics can “help people find communities, and, most importantly, belonging,” Scott said. That is important, she said, because “not all diversities are easily seen or easily understood.”

“Tonight, we’re celebrating a bunch of champions on the field and in the classroom,” said NMSU Women’s Basketball Coach Jody Adams. “Each and every one of these young women has left a mark on my life.”

The choices a person makes each day and his or her habits determine success, she said.

“At the end of the day, love wins,” Adams said.

“I’m coaching for one reason; it’s these kids,” said NMSU Football Coach Jerry Kill, whose team won the Quick Lane Bowl last December in Detroit. “I got more out of these kids than anybody I’ve coached in the last 40 years.” he said.

Kill coached at the University of Minnesota 2011-15, where then Head Football Coach Murray Warmath (1954-71) was one of the first (predominantly white) college coaches to recruit black players, Kill said, which “changed the game of football.”

“You’re a part of the movement,” Kill told his players and other student athletes at the gala. “I challenge you to look back at history.”

Joe Kelly, who played football at NMSU 1955-58, was the university’s first African American student athlete, said NMSU Athletic Director Mario Moccia. Kelly, who excelled in four sports, was also the second Aggie ever drafted by the NFL. Kelly was part of the Ottawa Rough Riders team that won the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup in 1960.

Moccia said Rob Evans, a native of Hobbs, was one of only three black assistant basketball coaches (serving under legendary Head Basketball Coach Lou Henson) in the U.S. when he coached for NMSU 1969-76.

At the time, John McClendon at Cleveland State University, was the only African American head coach at a predominantly white university. Moccia is a member of the board of directors of the John McClendon Foundation, which offers scholarships to minority candidates planning to pursue a master’s degree in athletics administration, sports management (www.minorityleaders.org).

Moccia said Nora Carter of Alamogordo was the first African American member of the Aggie women’s basketball team, in 1974.

Students honored

These student athletes were honored during the Sneakers and Suits Gala for having a 3.5 or greater GPA:

• Thobile Amon, women’s track, senior majoring in social work
• Thulisle Amon, women’s track, senior majoring in social work
• Noah Arinze, football, junior majoring in marketing
• Kayla Bowen, women’s softball, graduate student, EAD
• Sierra Brewer, women’s track, junior majoring in biology
• Richard Chakolis, football, a freshman majoring in criminal justice
• Soufia Inoussa, women’s basketball, a senior majoring in sociology
• Sydnee Johnson, women’s soccer, a freshman majoring in business
• Molly Kaiser, women’s basketball, a junior majoring in business
• Angelina Killings, women’s track, a freshman majoring in kinesiology
• Makiya Moore, women’s track, a junior majoring in kinesiology
• O’Maury Samuels, football, a graduate student in criminal justice
• Terice Steen, women’s track, a senior majoring in nursing
• Deshawndre Washington, men’s basketball, a senior majoring in independent studies.