HR0072 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0072 LRB096 10751 KXB 20940 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Larry Hawkins, a longtime Chicago educator, championship basketball coach and athletics enthusiast, on January 30, 2009; and

WHEREAS, Larry grew up on the South Side, near 30th and Prairie; he attended Phillips High School, Wilson Junior College, George Williams College, Roosevelt University, and finally the University of Illinois, where he earned his Ph.D. in education; to pay for his education, he sold newspapers, shined shoes, and worked as a stock boy; and

WHEREAS, Larry played basketball under the name Hawk Washington with the old Brown Bombers, a spinoff of the Harlem Globetrotters; as he traveled with the team throughout the South, he saw people who needed help and vowed to teach children how to cope with discrimination; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Hawkins began his career coaching basketball at Carver High School; he discovered Cazzie Russel in a gym class and groomed him into one the greatest NBA players ever produced in Chicago; in 1962 he coached his team to second place in the State tournament and won the championship a year later in 1963; he was named Coach of the Year by the city's Prep Sports Writers Association in 1962 and 1963; his championship team was welcomed home by over 15,000 fans, including Mayor Richard J. Daley who said, "Hawkins not only builds great basketball teams, he builds character in men"; and

WHEREAS, Larry's coaching garnered headlines, but he dedicated most of his career to helping struggling students prepare for college; since 1968, he had been Director of the Office of Special Programs - College Prep at the University of Chicago, a program that provides tutors and classes, sponsors trips to college campuses and helps young people increase their opportunities to continue their education beyond high school; he founded the institute for Athletics and Education in the early 1970's to work with student athletes; he was president of Big Buddies Youth Services, which dealt with troubled youth and was often heard saying, "You got to give a joker a break"; and

WHEREAS, In 40 years as an educator, through the Office of Special Programs, the Institute of Athletics and Education and Big Buddies Youth Services, Dr. Hawkins and his staff annually taught, tutored and counseled hundreds of children; former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas once asked Mr. Hawkins to become the Public League's sports supervisor, an offer Larry declined saying, "I've got kids I have to look after, kids who need me"; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family, friends, and the many people whose lives were touched by him, the passing of Dr. Larry Hawkins; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Dr. Larry Hawkins as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.