Ceremony to honor black athletes at UNLV

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, May 11, 2000 | 10:03 a.m.

USC, Stanford, UCLA, Cal and Oklahoma are among the schools that do it. So why not UNLV?

"It" is a special African-American graduation celebration sponsored by the Alliance of Professionals of African Heritage. And first-year UNLV athletics academic adviser Janice Henry, who has helped organize a similar graduation celebration at USC the last 10 years, has put together UNLV's celebration -- its first of the kind -- Saturday night at 7 in the Moyer Student Union Ballroom.

About 750 people are expected to attend the program, which will include awards for an outstanding athlete, outstanding student leader and community service. Noted civil rights attorney Thomas N. Todd will deliver the keynote speech.

There will also be food, music and refreshment at no charge. The public is invited.

What makes the graduation celebration even more remarkable is that most of the money raised to put the ceremony on is coming from some of the star athletes Henry helped advise at USC.

NFL stars Keyshawn Johnson, Curtis Conway, Willie McGinest and Darrell Russell all donated several thousand dollars for the event, as did UNLV head football coach John Robinson and head basketball coach Bill Bayno. UNLV booster Rich Abajian also contributed.

"We didn't have any funding, so all the money came from donations," Henry said.

"I've worked with Janice before," said Russell, an all-pro defensive tackle with the Oakland Raiders. "She was always there for me whenever I needed her at school. I just figured I'd help out so that we could give the kids (at UNLV) the same opportunity to experience it that we had (at USC)."

Russell, who under Henry's prodding returned to USC in the off-season to earn his degree in social science and history, said the graduation celebration "really meant a lot to me. It was really personal. It was all the people you went to school with showing up and having a good time."

Henry stressed the celebration is not aimed to detract from Sunday's regular commencement exercises at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"It's just something to celebrate our graduates and undergraduates," Henry said. "This is an event that can bring a lot of pride and self-worth to the families involved. The Native American students on campus are also doing something similiar to this."

Russell said he didn't think it was unusual for he and his fellow USC grads to be so involved with a UNLV function.

"You kind of go with Coach Robinson," Russell said. "A lot of the guys, yeah, we went to USC. But I think we see ourselves more as being a part of Coach Robinson. We're always going to be here to support him."

Henry is hopeful more UNLV alums will take on a greater role in the event in the future.

"We tried to solicit people like Shawn Marion and other UNLV stars, but they didn't seem that interested," she said.

Both Russell and Johnson may take time out of their busy schedules to attend.

"I'm going back out that way this weekend to see my mother for Mother's Day," Johnson, who played in Robinson's celebrity golf tourney here last weekend, said Wednesday night from Tampa. "I'm going to see about the possibility of maybe stopping by on the way out to Los Angeles."

Steve Guiremand covers UNLV football for the Sun. Reach him at 259-2324 or by e-mail at steveg@lasvegassun.com