2015 LC Spring Magazine

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12 LYCOMING COLLEGE 2015 SPRING MAGAZINE
TACKLING AN
IMPORTANT
ISSUE
College football Hall of Famer
Don McPherson visits Lycoming
to promote awareness of sexual
discrimination and violence
n the mid-80s, when Don McPherson was playing his way to
a Hall of Fame college football career at Syracuse University,
something about the world of athletics didn’t sit right with
him.
“There was this notion that athletes were role models, that
they should be emulated for some reason,” McPherson told
in 2013. “I mean, that’s completely false. It was a myth
then and it’s a myth now.”
Instead of rebelling against the notion of athlete-as-role model
by shying away from the spotlight, however, McPherson decided
to use his time in the public eye for good. He became involved in a
program called Athletes Against Drunk Driving, beginning a life
of social change that would continue through his time playing for
the Philadelphia Eagles, the Houston Oilers and in the Canadian
Football League, and would eventually outlast his career on the field.
After he retired from professional football in 1994, McPherson
became the national director of athletes in service to America at
Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society.
It was during this tenure, that he shifted his focus from educating
audiences about the dangers of substance abuse and bullying, to
lecturing about violence against women, an issue that would become
central to the former quarterback’s efforts as an activist. According
to his bio, McPherson “emerged as a national leader and advocate for
the prevention of sexual and domestic violence.”
The All-American quarterback has gone on to conduct workshops
and to give lectures for more than 250 college campuses, community
organizations and national sports and violence-prevention
organizations. He visited Lycoming in October, speaking about the
prevention of sexual discrimination and violence to various classes
and groups on campus, including the Race, Class, Gender and
Sexuality sociology class, the student life staff, the Student Athlete
Advisory Board, the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic
Council. •
McPherson has worked
with the U.S. Department
of Education and Defense
on issues of sexual
violence in education and
the military and has won
numerous awards for his
service, including Lifetime
Television’s Champions
for Change award. He also
served as a college football
analyst for ESPN, BET
and NBC, has provided
commentary on national
news programs and has
appeared on the Oprah
Winfrey Show.
I
T H E CO L L E G E