[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              WILBUR ``PONY'' WILSON: AN ATHLETE'S FRIEND

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 5, 1999

  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that the Rutgers 
University-Camden community is informed about the passing of Wilbur 
``Pony'' Wilson. Pony Wilson served the Rutgers-Camden campus as 
athletic director for almost 30 years. He passed away this past 
Saturday evening. Few will deny Pony's true legacy is his commitment to 
encouraging students to pursue their studies and their dreams. He 
believed that education, not sports, was the driving force for young 
men and women who competed in athletics at Rutgers-Camden.
  In an interview prior to his retirement, Pony noted ``What's most 
rewarding is that kids now--since the late 60's and early 70's--are 
graduating. When you talk about the percentage of the kids that played 
[sports], we had a high rate on the basketball teams who got their 
degrees.''
  To many, Pony was not only a colleague or a coach, he was a friend to 
professors and students alike who passed through the Rutgers-Camden 
campus. The current Athletic Director, Ed Cialella, who was Pony's 
first hire in 1969 when he joined the college as an Assistant 
Instructor of Physical Education, reflects, ``We lost a friend of 
athletics, and an athlete's friend.''
  During his tenure at Rutgers-Camden, Pony developed the athletic 
department from a five-sport program--with no on-campus facilities and 
no women's teams--to one that boasts as many as 14 teams with ample 
competition for both genders. He was known throughout the NCAA Division 
III conference for his belief that education, not sports, was the 
priority of the men and women at Rutgers-Camden.
  Pony believed that ``student athletes are students first.'' On behalf 
of all those lives that Pony Wilson touched, I would like to convey my 
most sincere condolences to his family. May his unfailing commitment to 
university athletics and education continue to live on in every one of 
us.

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