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HR0072 |
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LRB096 10751 KXB 20940 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
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| Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Larry |
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| Hawkins, a longtime Chicago educator, championship basketball |
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| coach and athletics enthusiast, on January 30, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, Larry grew up on the South Side, near 30th and |
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| Prairie; he attended Phillips High School, Wilson Junior |
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| College, George Williams College, Roosevelt University, and |
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| finally the University of Illinois, where he earned his Ph.D. |
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| in education; to pay for his education, he sold newspapers, |
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| shined shoes, and worked as a stock boy; and
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| WHEREAS, Larry played basketball under the name Hawk |
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| Washington with the old Brown Bombers, a spinoff of the Harlem |
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| Globetrotters; as he traveled with the team throughout the |
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| South, he saw people who needed help and vowed to teach |
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| children how to cope with discrimination; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Hawkins began his career coaching basketball |
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| at Carver High School; he discovered Cazzie Russel in a gym |
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| class and groomed him into one the greatest NBA players ever |
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| produced in Chicago; in 1962 he coached his team to second |
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| place in the State tournament and won the championship a year |
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| later in 1963; he was named Coach of the Year by the city's |
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HR0072 |
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LRB096 10751 KXB 20940 r |
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| Prep Sports Writers Association in 1962 and 1963; his |
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| championship team was welcomed home by over 15,000 fans, |
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| including Mayor Richard J. Daley who said, "Hawkins not only |
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| builds great basketball teams, he builds character in men"; and
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| WHEREAS, Larry's coaching garnered headlines, but he |
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| dedicated most of his career to helping struggling students |
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| prepare for college; since 1968, he had been Director of the |
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| Office of Special Programs - College Prep at the University of |
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| Chicago, a program that provides tutors and classes, sponsors |
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| trips to college campuses and helps young people increase their |
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| opportunities to continue their education beyond high school; |
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| he founded the institute for Athletics and Education in the |
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| early 1970's to work with student athletes; he was president of |
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| Big Buddies Youth Services, which dealt with troubled youth and |
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| was often heard saying, "You got to give a joker a break"; and
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| WHEREAS, In 40 years as an educator, through the Office of |
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| Special Programs, the Institute of Athletics and Education and |
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| Big Buddies Youth Services, Dr. Hawkins and his staff annually |
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| taught, tutored and counseled hundreds of children; former |
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| Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas once asked Mr. Hawkins |
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| to become the Public League's sports supervisor, an offer Larry |
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| declined saying, "I've got kids I have to look after, kids who |
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| need me"; therefore, be it
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HR0072 |
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LRB096 10751 KXB 20940 r |
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| mourn, along with his family, friends, and the many people |
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| whose lives were touched by him, the passing of Dr. Larry |
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| Hawkins; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to the family of Dr. Larry Hawkins as a symbol of our |
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| sincere sympathy.
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