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Billie Jean King, Sports Legend and Champion for Social Change, to Deliver New England Tech Commencement Address
Sports legend and equal rights activist Billie Jean King will deliver this year’s commencement address. She is one of the best tennis players of all time and has been at the forefront of social change, creating opportunities for women both in and out of sports. Her stellar career and accomplishments have been enshrined at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. Walk through the arched entryway at the Hall of Fame and it is her name you’ll see first on a plaque near the fabled grass courts.
Billie Jean King broke records and broke down gender barriers. By the time she was 17 years old she was playing and winning at Wimbledon, home of the world’s most prestigious tournament. She went on to become the leading tennis player in the world, winning the rank of number one in the world five times and number one in the United States seven times. She ranked in the top ten in the world for 17 years, winning in singles, doubles and mixed doubles and on all playing surfaces. On Sunday, May 6, 2007, she’ll share her insight on what it takes to succeed with New England Tech graduates.
“The best in the world pick the right shot at the right time,” King says. “They know what works and they stay within that. They just get calmer, better, more focused. They accept responsibility. Everyone chokes. They just choke a little bit less.”
As King’s career and skill developed so did her passion for equality. She became an outspoken advocate for equal rights on and off the court at a time when female athletes received only a fraction of the money awarded to their male counterparts. At the top of her game as an amateur player, King risked her career to launch the Women’s Virginia Slims Tournament, the first professional tennis tour for women.
Many of the best women players shied away from the spotlight of this renegade tournament because it was opposed by established tennis organizations. King persevered and became the first woman athlete to earn $100,000 in prize money in one season. A defining moment in her life came when she accepted the challenge of self-professed male chauvinist and tennis great Bobby Riggs. In a match billed as the Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean beat him soundly in front of a record crowd and 50 million television viewers. Her smashing success was celebrated by women and by men across the country and helped to give women the confidence to step up and demand equal pay and equal treatment.
“I knew it wasn’t about tennis,” King says of the match. “It was about social change. What I wanted from it was to actually bring men and women closer to helping each other, being good to each other. I wanted to change the minds and hearts of people.”
The year before her match with Bobby Riggs, King had championed the passage of a federal law commonly called Title IX. While Title IX is often viewed as legislation that guarantees women equal access to sports in school, its original intent was to provide equal access to academics and the then male-dominated courses like math and sciences.
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Thomas Celona, Entrepreneur and Community Leader, to be Honored at Commencement
New England Institute of Technology will have the privilege of presenting Rhode Island entrepreneur and community leader Thomas Celona with his first honorary degree at commencement. Celona will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters in recognition of his work to strengthen the community and improve the lives of others.
“Tom Celona is an extraordinary entrepreneur with a talent for bringing people together to solve problems and to create programs that make our community stronger,” said Richard I. Gouse, President of New England Institute of Technology. “He is a tremendous collaborator and has the patience to work with diverse groups of people and help them reach the best possible outcomes.”Celona is president and owner of Thrifty Car Rental, Sales and Service of Rhode Island and of Prestige Limousine. He started his business in 1969, right after receiving a degree in business administration from Bryant College.
He took out a loan to purchase 17 cars, then spent 100 hours a week washing, servicing and renting those cars. He grew that business into an award-winning franchise and one of the top Thrifty car rental operations in the country. He did so by emphasizing customer service and a winning attitude toward his employees, many of whom are New England Tech graduates.“I work with my employees, they don’t work for me,” says Celona. “I don’t tell them to care about customer service, I show them that I care. I never mandate to employees. I thank them for a job well done.”As Celona grew his business he also dedicated his time to enhancing the local community. He was instrumental in creating the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce with a focus on business development, education, ethics and helping others in central Rhode Island grow their own businesses.
He worked on numerous projects with the Warwick Rotary Club and with the Cranston Jaycees and helped to expand Warwick’s student mentoring program into a statewide effort, reaching school children of all ages.“Mentoring can really help turn kids around, says Celona. “It helps them become better kids. They become more aware of what’s going on in the community and of the opportunities available to them.”The program has had such a powerful impact on some students, that they’ve become mentors once they’re grown. In addition to working with the Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership, Celona shares his business acumen with students through Junior Achievement of Rhode Island. He visits with local high school students to teach them about everything from financial responsibility to how American business works.
Celona is known for his longevity on the many boards he serves, often holding numerous positions over the years, then staying on to lend consistency and assistance as new members step up. He has a reputation for standing up for what he believes in and working tirelessly to bring people together when a solution to a problem is required. He could face his greatest challenge yet as chairman of the board of trustees for Kent County Memorial Hospital, the second largest hospital in Rhode Island. In this capacity, Celona is working to find ways to help the hospital continue to provide an excellent medical staff and the most advanced medical treatment as the cost of health care skyrockets and compensation for doctors decreases. Celona urges New England Tech grads to find an active role in the community.
“It’s absolutely important,” says Celona. “You can do a lot of good and you get a sense of being part of the community that you’ll never get by just going to a nine to five job and going home. It gives you a purpose.”
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Thirty-five years after its passage, King says the essence of Title IX is in place, but scholarships, operating budgets and facilities for women athletes still lag well behind those for men, and efforts to weaken the legislation require vigilance. King was raised in a traditional, middle-class household in Southern California. Her father was a firefighter. Her mother was a homemaker. Billie Jean was always athletic and competitive. She loved playing tag football witht her brother, but her mother put an end to it, deeming it unladylike. When she was 12, a friend introduced her to tennis, a sport her mother felt was more appropriate. At that point, King knew she’d found her destiny.
“I was very clear at age 12 that I was going to try to do what I’ve been doing. I wanted to make things better for both men and women. I don’t like injustice. I like equality. I want people to have equal rights no matter where you come from.”
While a reigning tennis champion King founded the Women’s Tennis Association, the Women’s Sports Foundation and Women’s Sports Magazine. She also co-founded World TeamTennis, a co-ed professional tennis league that gave the best male and female tennis players in the world an opportunity to play and compete together. In so doing, she became the first woman to coach a professional team containing male players.
World TeamTennis remains King’s core business with teams in eleven U.S. cities. The Boston Lobsters are the team closest to Rhode Island, but it was the Philadelphia Freedoms, the first team King both played for and coached that has been immortalized in song. Sir Elton John wrote the song Philadelphia Freedom in tribute to his friend Billie Jean.
King currently serves on the board of Elton John’s AIDS foundation and on the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation. She works to create tennis leagues for adults and corporations through her World TeamTennis Recreational League, and is involved in a national effort to keep girls involved in sports and physical activity called GoGirlGo!
King is credited with doing more to advance the cause of women’s sports than any man or woman. Her highest honor in tennis came just last year when the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Tennis Center was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in her honor. The center is home to the U.S. Open, the richest tennis event in the world with prize money exceeding $18 million.
In recognition of her life’s work, Billie Jean King will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters at New England Institute of Technology’s 66th commencement ceremony. Graduation exercises will begin at 11 a.m. at the Rhode Island Convention Center in downtown Providence. |
NEIT Hosts FIRST Vex Challenge
On Saturday, March 31, New England Institute of Technology hosted the first annual Rhode Island FIRST Vex Challenge, in partnership with the Tech Collective, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, Science & Technology Advisory Council, and the Business Innovation Factory. (FIRST is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology.) Twenty-six teams, consisting of between two and ten high school students, competed in the FIRST Vex robotics competition.
New England Tech’s Vice President for Corporate Education and Training, Steve Kitchin, served as emcee for the day. Steve’s lively play-by-play and commentary added to the already energetic mood of the day.
FIRST is an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
Teams used the Vex Robotics Design System, consisting of metal parts, sensors, motors, gears, and a transmitter/receiver to construct and program a robot capable of competing in the challenge. The students competed for points by guiding softballs into low goals and higher canister type goals. Adding to the excitement was the challenge of gaining possession of the Atlas Ball, which would double a team’s score. The winning teams will compete at the national competition in Atlanta in April.
New England Tech is excited to welcome this event back next year. The success of the first Rhode Island Vex challenge is a tribute to the many NEIT faculty and staff members who volunteered their time and talent on March 31. |
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