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Rutgers basketball coach honored for role off the court - as mother
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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - When Rutgers University womens basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer was in high school, her father told her "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
That advice was given when Stringer was debating whether or not to fight for the opportunity to become her school's first black cheerleader, which she eventually did.
Those words stuck with her as she went on to become the first collegiate basketball coach to lead three different schools to the Final Four, the third winningest women's basketball coach of all time and a member of the 2009 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame alongside Michael Jordan.
But on Tuesday night, Stringer stood on a stage at the Carriage House to receive the Arc of Atlantic County's 2009 Tribute Award for one of her other great accomplishments - motherhood.
Stringer, 61, is a mother of three, including a developmentally disabled daughter, Nina, who was struck with spinal meningitis when she was 14 months old; it prevented her from being able to speak or walk again.
Tuesday's tribute was one that Stringer said she was "very uncomfortable" receiving.
"It's not me we should be honoring," she said, adding that the professionals, teachers and volunteers who work every day helping the developmentally disabled should be the ones put on a pedestal. "They are angels who lifted me up. Without them I wouldn't be here today. None of us would."
Beth Ann Spiegel, the fund development and communications associate for the Arc of Atlantic County, said Stringer was chosen because of her efforts to raise awareness of developmental disabilities.
"She has encouraged all people, regardless of their circumstances to 'stand tall' and be everything they can be," Spiegel said.
Past recipients of the award include former state Sen. William Gormley and University of Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weiss.
The Arc sold about 200 tickets to the event, Spiegel said, which is its largest fundraiser of the year and included a silent auction.
"We hope to raise more than $80,000 from tonight alone," said Spiegel, adding all of the money would go to fund recreational, social and athletic activities for developmentally disabled residents of Atlantic County and their families.
Stringer was introduced by her longtime friend, and former Temple University men's basketball coach, John Chaney.
Chaney said he was proud for the opportunity to honor Stringer.
When Nina was first admitted to the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, Chaney literally had to carry Stringer down to the cafeteria to just make sure she ate.
"It was such a difficult time for her. She didn't know if she ever wanted to coach again, but I told her she had to because there was so much left for her to do," he said. "I don't know why, but she's always listened to me."
That year, Stringer's Cheyney University squad played in the first-ever woman's basketball NCAA championship game.
It is help from family and friends, like Chaney, that Stringer advised other parents facing similar challenges with their own children to accept.
"You need help and that's what (the Arc of Atlantic County) is here to do," she said. "They are here to help the parents of developmentally disabled children to always have the opportunity to be productive members of society."
E-mail Robert Spahr:
Posted in Atlantic on Friday, May 15, 2009 11:55 am
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