[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING ALVIN COWANS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL McCOLLUM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 11, 1998

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share a recent article 
from The Washingtonian that highlights the achievements of a 
constituent of mine, Alvin (A.C.) J. Cowans. I have had the pleasure of 
hosting Mr. Cowans in my office and it was a pleasant surprise to see 
such a glowing article in the magazine. I am submitting a copy of the 
article for my colleagues to review.
  Not only was Mr. Cowans an All-SEC football player at my alma mater, 
the University of Florida, but he has played football in the NFL and is 
now the CEO of McCoy Federal Credit Union in Orlando, Florida, He 
serves the credit union industry as the Vice Chair of the National 
Association of Federal Credit Union's (NAFCU) Board of Directors. The 
members of the McCoy FCU and of NAFCU are fortunate to have Mr. Cowans 
working on their behalf.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that my colleagues will take the time to 
read The Washingtonian article. It is a fine tribute to one of my 
constituents.

                  [From the Washingtonian, June 1998]

       Alvin Cowans can reel off his high-school football honors--
     Northern Virginia Player of the Year, All Regional, All 
     State--as though he won them yesterday.
       He went on to play for the University of Florida, where he 
     was All Southeastern Conference, then for the Pittsburgh 
     Steelers, and finally for the Redskins. But after high 
     school, it was never the same--never again was all the 
     cheering just for him.
       ``I really thought I was all that,'' Cowans says of his 
     Groveton days. Which meant he had a hard time adjusting to 
     life at the University of Florida, where ``everybody else was 
     also player of this and All American that.''
       If he'd gone to Alexandria's T.C. Williams High School, the 
     athletic powerhouse in whose district he technically lived, 
     life might have been different. Sure, he would have played on 
     a team that won more championships, a team where he would 
     have been one of a constellation of stars. But then maybe, 
     compared to all the athletes at T.C. Williams, he wouldn't 
     have looked quite as appealing to all the colleges that came 
     knocking.
       It doesn't matter now. But Cowans--who also played 
     basketball and ran track--is fairly sure that if he'd gone to 
     the then-majority-black T.C. Williams, he'd never be as at 
     ease as he is today, one of about two dozen African-Americans 
     among the CEO's of the nation's 11,000 federal credit unions.
       ``Groveton was very diverse, but it had just a handful of 
     black students,'' says Cowans, who went to all-black schools 
     through sixth grade. ``Being the big-shot athlete sort of 
     shielded me from the racism, because they saw me more as an 
     athlete than as a black male.''
       His star status helped him ``learn how to adjust and cope 
     with that environment and not carry a chip on my shoulder or 
     be uncomfortable.''
       Cowans has lived in Orlando since 1978, when a former UF 
     football player recruited him for a management-training 
     program. He head McCoy Federal Credit Union, one of central 
     Florid's largest.
       His interest in finance goes back to high school, too.
       ``I always liked to have money, and I always worked to get 
     it,'' says Cowans, who spent high-school summers hauling 
     bricks and blocks and mud to build the Redskins' training 
     camp at Dulles, where he got to practice some six years 
     later.
       ``It felt great,'' he says of all the cheers from his 
     family and friends when he played for the Redskins. It 
     sounded a lot like Groveton.

     

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