Alpha Alexander

Last updated

Alpha Alexander (born June 9, 1954, in Nashville, Tennessee) was co-founder of the Black Women in Sport Foundation.

Contents

Early life and education

Alpha Alexander was born June 9, 1954, in Nashville, Tennessee to parents Alpha Omega Alexander and Rufus S. Alexander. Alexander's mother, Alpha Omega Alexander was an elementary school teacher in Dayton, Ohio. Alexander's father graduated from the University of Wisconsin and worked for the United States Post Office. Alexander later moved to Dayton, Ohio where she grew up. Alexander attended Blairwood Elementary and went to Jefferson High School. Alexander was unable to play sports at Jefferson High School due to sports not being offered to girls. Alexander then went on to attend The College of Wooster in 1976 where she attained her bachelor's degree in Physical Education. While there she played Volleyball (1973-1975), Lacrosse, Tennis, and Basketball (1972-1976). Alexander earned her master's degree in 1978 and Doctorate degree in 1981 at Temple University in Pennsylvania. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Career

In 1976, Alexander began her career as a graduate assistant in Women's Athletics at Temple University. She was the Assistant Women's Athletic Director while there from 1980 to 1983 and the Women's Athletic Director in 1981–1983. She went on to work at Women's Sports Foundation 1985–1986. In 1986 she worked at the YWCA of San Francisco as Health and Wellness Director until 1987 until she became the health and sports advocacy for YWCA of the USA National Office. In 1990 Alexander became special assistant to the chief executive officer of the YWCA. Alexander then worked as Chancellor to the New York City Board of Education Office in 2000–2001. Alexander taught at Walter State Community College from 2001 to 2005 and Lane College from 2005 to 2007. Alexander served on the Olympic and Pan-American Sports Advisory Council, the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors, and was president of the Arthur Ashe Foundation. In 1992 Alexander co founded the Black Women in Sport Foundation with Tina Sloan Green, Nikki Franke, and Linda Greene. They met while at Temple University. Currently Alexander is the chairperson of the Morristown Taskforce on Diversity. [1] [5] [6] [7] [8] [4]

Awards and honors

College of Wooster Hall of Fame -1993

Black Enterprise Magazine (as one of the 30 most valuable professionals in the business of sports in the USA ) -1995

Women's Sports Foundation President Award-1995

Olympic Shield Award (2nd Woman ever to receive this award from US Olympic Committee) -1996

New York Times Women of the Year Sport Award-1996

Billie Jean King Contribution Award (Women Sports Foundation) -1997,

NCAA Silver Anniversary Award- 2001

NCAA 100 Most Influential Student Athletes in History (ESPN Classic) -2006

College of Wooster Distinguished Alumni -2008

National Girls and Women Sport Award from AAHPERD (previous year winners were Michelle Obama and Pat Head Summit) -2013 [5] [2] [1] [3]

1019 Black Woman In Sport Foundation Glass Ceiling Breaker Award- 2019

Publications

They Carried Us: The Social Impact of Philadelphia's Black Women Leaders (Alexander is showcased in this book)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wittenberg University</span> Private university in Springfield, Ohio, U.S.

Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Height</span> American activist (1912–2010)

Dorothy Irene Height was an African-American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of African-American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and African Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. Height's role in the "Big Six" civil rights movement was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism. In 1974, she was named to the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, which published the Belmont Report, a bioethics report in response to the infamous "Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Owls</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Temple University

The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. Vivian Stringer</span> American basketball coach

Charlaine Vivian Stringer is an American former basketball coach. She holds one of the best coaching records in the history of women's basketball. She was the head coach of the Rutgers University women's basketball team from 1995 until her retirement in 2022.

Rabbi Rebecca Trachtenberg Alpert is Professor of Religion Emerita at Temple University, and was one of the first women rabbis. Her chief academic interests are religions and sports and sexuality in Judaism, and she says that her beliefs were transformed by a Sabbath prayer book that refers to God as 'She'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Flagg Holmes</span>

Margaret Flagg Holmes was one of the sixteen founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, at Howard University in Washington, DC. It was the first sorority founded by African-American women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nellie Quander</span> American labor leader

Nellie May Quander was an incorporator and the first international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. As president for several years, she helped expand the sorority and further its support of African-American women at colleges and in communities. The sorority established a scholarship endowment in her name. The legacy of the sorority has continued to generate social capital for over 112 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winona Cargile Alexander</span>

Winona Cargile Alexander was a founder of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Incorporated at Howard University on January 13, 1913. It was the second sorority founded by African-American women and was influential in women's building civic institutions and charities. In 1915, she was the first African-American admitted to the New York School of Philanthropy, where she received a graduate fellowship for her studies. She was the first African-American hired as a social worker in New York.

Nikki Franke is an American former fencer and fencing coach. She fenced for Brooklyn College, and was an All American. She competed in the women's individual and team foil events at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and fenced at the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games, earning a silver medal in the individual competition in 1975, and a bronze medal in the team event in both years. As head coach of the Temple University women’s fencing team, she was named the USFCA Coach of the Year in 1983, 1987, 1988, and 1991.

Precious Jewel Freeman Graham was an educator, social worker, and attorney. She was professor emeritus of social work and legal studies at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. She was the second black woman to serve as president of the World YWCA. She was named to the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 2008.

Ruth Logan Roberts was a suffragist, activist, YWCA leader, and host of a salon in Harlem, New York City.

Tina Sloan Green is a former women's lacrosse head coach of the Temple Owls from 1975 to 1992. Apart from coaching, she was the first African American to play for the United States women's national field hockey team from 1969 to 1973. Sloan Green was inducted into the US National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997, the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Weiffenbach Kettering</span>

Virginia Weiffenbach Kettering was Dayton, Ohio's leading philanthropist and patron of the arts.

Fay Biles was an American academic and college sports coach. She was the first woman to serve in a vice presidency role at an Ohio university. As a head coach of the field hockey and lacrosse teams, she logged more victories than any other coach in Kent State University history. She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.

Linda Sheryl Greene is an American academic in the field of law. She was the first African-American woman to teach at Temple University Law School, and is the Evjue-Bascom Professor of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel McGhee Davis</span> American educator, social worker, and college administrator

Ethel Elizabeth McGhee Davis was an American educator, social worker, and college administrator. She served as the student adviser (1928–1931) and as the Dean of Women (1931–1932) for Spelman College in Atlanta.

Carole A. Oglesby (1938–?) is an American athlete, physical educator, sports coach, sports psychologist and writer. She is considered among the first openly gay women in U.S. athletics.

Kamali Thompson is an American fencer and doctor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susie Ione Brown Waxwood</span> American clubwoman

Susie Ione Brown Waxwood was an American philanthropist and clubwoman, based in Princeton, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zenobia Gilpin</span> American physician

Zenobia Gilpin was an American physician and clubwoman, and "one of the best known citizens of Richmond". An African-American physician during the Jim Crow era, she provided medical services to underserved black communities.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sloan Green, Tina; Alexander, Alpha; Oglesby, Carole; Franke, Nikki (1981). Black Women in Sport. Reston, VA: AAHPERD.
  2. 1 2 "Board of Directors". Black Women in Sport Foundation. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Giving Back". Citizen Tribune. September 5, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Alexander, Alpha. "Alpha Alexander". Linked In. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Continuing a Legacy". Citizen Tribune. April 24, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  6. Seal, Sarah (March 16, 2017). "Morristown College video presentation scheduled at Bethel UMC". Citizen Tribune. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  7. "About Us". Morrison Task Force on Diversity. January 15, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  8. Mitchell, Nicole; Ennis, Lisa (2007). Encyclopedia of Title IX and Sports. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 17.