SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE AND THE PARALYMPICS: By Chris Gregor


DARING GREATLY


FOR DAVID GREVEMBERG ’95, IT BEGAN WHEN HE GOT TO KNOW CRAIG HEDGECOCK ‘94, A VISION- IMPAIRED WRESTLING TEAMMATE AT SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE. “I was amazed at Craig’s wrestling ability, and he was also a great student and had the ability to get around campus independently. He gave me an immediate apprecia- tion for people with disabilities and what they could accomplish,” Grevemberg says. That friendship fueled Grevemberg’s passion for adaptive sport and for helping athletes with disabilities, causing him to hold highly visible positions in Paralympic and adaptive sports since 1996. He now works in Glasgow, Scotland, as CEO of the Commonwealth Games 2014.


Grevemberg is one of many Springfield College athletes, faculty members, students, and alumni who have played notable roles in the expansion and growth of the Paralympics movement. Paralympic athletes are comprised of four groups: athletes with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, amputees, and blind persons. For many decades Paralympic competitions were


David Grevemberg 10 TRIANGLE 1 Vol. 83, No. 3


separate from the Olympic games. But beginning with the 1988 Seoul games, the Paralympics have been held in the same year and venue as the Olympics and are under the umbrella of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). What drives the commitment at Springfield College to adaptive sports? Grevemberg and Professor Robert Accorsi G’80 both believe the Humanics philosophy plays a big role.


HUMANICS, HOPE, GRIT: DRIVING THE PARALYMPICS


Bob Accorsi, professor of sport management and 2010 Distinguished Professor of Humanics, explored some of the characteristics powering the Paralympic movement in his Humanics lecture entitled, “Humanics, Hope and Grit: Powerful Catalysts for the Paralympic Movement.” He cites three men whose pioneering efforts created foundations for the Paralympics: Dr. Ludwig Guttman, who beginning in 1948 operated the first games in England for paralyzed veterans returning from World War II; Tim Nugent, who began a basketball tournament for disabled U.S. World War II veterans at the University of Illinois; and Ben Lipton, who in


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