“I’ve always hated, with a passion, to play a team called the Hornets, because Hornets sting like hell, and that exactly what you’re suppose to do this weekend.” Herman Boone says to the ESU Hornets football team Wednesday night on Jones Field in Welch Stadium. Boone met with the team before he spoke at the Bonner and Bonner lecture series in Albert Taylor Hall later that night. Jennifer Baldwin/The Bulletin.

A lecture filled with anecdotes, movie clips, humor and a message of valuing diversity was delivered by Herman Boone, the man who inspired the Disney film “Remember the Titans,” last night in Albert Taylor Hall. Boone, played in the film by Denzel Washington, was selected as this year’s Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series speaker.

Boone shared a similar message with the Emporia State football team in a special session during their practice.

“A team is a unit of guys with one vision, one objective, and the most important thing I believe that a team is: a team is a group of guys with one heartbeat.  And Coach Higgins, if you hear two hearts beating out here in this team, kill that other sucker, because that’s the enemy,” Boone said to the team.

In his lecture titled “Remembering the Titans–Valuing Diversity,” Boone said that many people have a narrowed view of the definition of diversity.

“Too often diversity is limited to gender, race, perhaps ethnicity,” Boone said. “Let me remind you that diversity includes age, religion, socioeconomic status, ability and even sexual orientation.”

Because these differences exist, Boone said that some groups feel excluded in society.

“Almost all people of color feel that they are not part of the system – that the system doesn’t work fairly for them as a group,” Boone said. “Although it is certainly true that more than a few individuals have succeeded, racist attitudes seem to be the most difficult today to overcome.”

Boone is most famous for uniting the community of Alexandria, Va., after the integration of three schools in 1971 that were racially divided. As a football coach, Boone taught his players to work together as a team despite their differences, as depicted in the film.

“‘Remember the Titans’ is not about football,” Boone said during his lecture. “‘Remember the Titans’ is about respect and how one can accept the soul of the individual and not reject the individual but how we can change in our thinking.”

By learning to cooperate, the team sent a message to the surrounding community about diversity.

“These titans created trust among themselves and that trust became the emotional pool that binds these young boys together and the community,” Boone said. “They showed the world how we embrace diversity, and not let diversity be a problem to be solved in your community. They taught the world to become a team of one.”

The Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series has been present at ESU for several years.

“It is very important to teach people now and in the future about honoring diversity,” said Judith Heasley, president of the ESU foundation. “There have been speakers since 1992 to deliver this message.”

Junior criminal justice major Michael Gilbert said Boone’s experiences appealed to him.

“This lecture wasn’t coming from someone who had studied (diversity) or gone out and interviewed some people, but from someone who had actually lived it,” Gilbert said. “To me, that rings a bit more truthful and has a lot more meaning.”

Gilbert said that he can relate to the topics of Boone’s speech.

“Sometimes when I go around campus I see those groups he was talking about,” Gilbert said. “Groups of white students in one place and black students in another, and all the time I see Asians walking in their own group. Tomorrow I’m going to walk into the Union and see them all in their groups, but I think at least the ones who came tonight will look at each other a little differently.”

During his speech, Boone quoted Denzel Washington on a message that he said is a powerful message.

“None of us can stop the break of day,” Boone quoted. “When daylight does come and you do not plan to make a difference, than take your butt back to sleep.”

Sarah Shaw/The Bulletin

Send article as PDF to