Amaechi to speak about sexuality and athletics

Jake Berzoff-Cohen Guest Writer

John Amaechi, the first openly homosexual professional basketball player, will be on campus on Monday, Oct. 8 to kick off Vassar’s Coming Out Week. Last February, he shocked the public when he announced that he was gay during an ESPN program, news that was received with mixed feelings from National Basketball Association (NBA) members.

Director of Life Fitness and Supervisor of the Fitness Center Roman Czula coordinated the event. “Professional athletes are not usually the best role models, but Amaechi actually has given back to the community,” said Czula. “He has used basketball as a tool to get kids off the streets and in schools.”

Amaechi lived in Stockport, England until he moved to the United States at age 16. He had never played basketball, but the natural talent went on to play at Vanderbilt University before transferring to Pennsylvania State University, where he made the academic All-American team twice.

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed Amaechi in 1995, but he played there for only one season before returning to Europe to play for two years. Amaechi then went back to the NBA, playing for the Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz from 1997 to 2003. He was never a star center in the NBA, and before coming out was probably most famous for turning down a $17 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers to play for $600,000 with Orlando.

On campus, Amaechi will be the focus of several events. The first is an invitation-only discussion with guests and Athletic Department coaches and staff on “homophobia and heterosexism in athletics” at 3 p.m. This discussion is part of an ongoing awareness program for coaches and athletics staff on heterosexist language.

Then, from 5-6 p.m., Amaechi will be at an open tea/dessert session at Blegen House, followed by a talk at 7 p.m. in the Villard Room entitled “Man in the Middle,” named after his recent memoir chronicling his basketball career and his struggle to conceal his homosexuality.

Amaechi’s range of experiences will provide an enlightening evening for the Vassar community. “The idea of a basketball player coming out under any circumstances is intriguing,” said Czula. “It took an extraordinary amount of courage to withstand being in the NBA, let alone coming out.”