December 17, 2007

RICHARD STOCKTON PAYS TRIBUTE TO G. LARRY JAMES

STOCKTON OUTDOOR FACILITY NAMED THE G. LARRY JAMES STADIUM

More than 1,000 friends, colleagues, classmates and family members converged on Stockton’s Sports Center on December 1 to honor G. Larry James, longtime Dean of Athletics and Recreational Programs and Services.

James, originally came to Stockton in 1972 as an Assistant Athletic Director.

A gold and silver medalist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, James is best known at Stockton for building the athletic programs up from a non-competitive club model, to a successful NCAA Division III program. The Ospreys won an NCAA national title in men’s soccer in 2001, and reached the Final Four in Men’s basketball and men’s and women’s soccer. 

“To me, Larry James is Stockton,” head men’s basketball coach Gerry Matthews said. “Larry is the reason people know about Stockton. He put the school on the map.”

Stockton President, Dr. Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr., noted that James did so while emphasizing academics.

“Our sports teams really know how to compete, on the courts and the fields, but more importantly in the classroom,” Dr. Saatkamp said. “Larry never lost perspective on what was important. This is an institution where we truly have student-athletes.”

To commemorate the occasion, Stockton dedicated its track and field and stadium as the G. Larry James Stadium and installed a touchstone boulder for athletes to skim with their hands before entering the field of competition.

The College also announced the formation of the G.Larry James Legacy Fund to help provide scholarships for deserving students.

“I don’t like to be the center of this kind of attention,” James said.  “I really don’t like the spotlight.  However, this was a chance to help students years from now who I will never get the chance to meet. That’s the part of it that really interested me.”

Admirers of James came from all over the United States and as far away as Europe to take part in the festivities. The tribute event included a reception, food and nearly two dozen speakers. Vince Matthews, Ron Freeman and Lee Evans, James’ teammates on the world record-breaking 4x400 meter gold medal relay were all in attendance.  It was the first time they had been reunited since the mid-1990s.  Also on hand was Olympic gold-medal-winning pole vaulter Don Bragg, Stockton’s first Athletic Director; and John Carlos, the Mexico City bronze medalist who’s raised black glove salute to Black Power is one of the most enduring images from the 1968 Olympics.

“Larry James taught me how to be a loyal husband and loving father,” Carlos said.  “He taught me how to be a man.”