[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2381-2382]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                         REMEMBERING WIL SMITH

 Mr. KING. Mr. President, I rise today on a sad occasion. 
Yesterday, Bowdoin College--indeed, the entire State of Maine--lost a 
truly great man. Wil Smith, who was a good friend to countless people 
in Maine, passed away yesterday at the age of 46 following a courageous 
3-year battle with cancer.
  It is difficult to encapsulate in words the remarkable depth and 
breadth of someone like Wil. He grew up in Jacksonville, FL, the 
youngest of 10 children. His mother, Mildred, passed away when he was 
15 years old. After high school, Wil briefly attended Florida A&M 
University before enlisting in the U.S. Navy and becoming an aviation 
electronics technician. He served in the first gulf war and was later 
transferred to the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, ME.
  While stationed in Brunswick, Wil began coaching football at 
Brunswick Middle School. It wasn't long after that when the coach of 
the Bowdoin College men's basketball team spotted him and was impressed 
by his talent and natural ability to work with kids. He asked Wil if he 
had ever thought about attending college. After some convincing, Wil 
applied to and was accepted at Bowdoin.
  It was also during this time that Wil became a father--and only 
months before his first semester began, he was granted full custody of 
his 11-month-old daughter Olivia. To say the least, he was a 
nontraditional student in almost every sense. Matriculating at age 28, 
he was a decade older than most of his freshmen classmates. He was one 
of just three African-American students in his class. And he was the 
first single father in Bowdoin's history to attend the college.

[[Page 2382]]

  He worked tirelessly--carrying Olivia to class and then to basketball 
practice, taking evening shifts at the local Staples store, and 
volunteering at area high schools. He faced challenges unfathomable to 
most of his classmates at Bowdoin--struggling to balance a commitment 
to his daughter and his rigorous coursework. But Wil persevered--and he 
did so with a strength of conviction and determination that would come 
to define the influence he would have on students who would follow in 
his footsteps at Bowdoin.
  Following graduation, Wil continued to devote his time and energy to 
his community, and in particular, to young people of nontraditional or 
underrepresented backgrounds. He continued to serve in the U.S. Navy 
Reserves, and joined the staff of Bowdoin College, serving as director 
of multicultural student programs. Driven to continue his education, he 
then enrolled in the University of Maine School of Law, where 3 years 
later, he would graduate with a law degree and once again return to 
Bowdoin.
  At Bowdoin, Wil served as a beacon of light to so many students--many 
of whom, like him, toiled with the challenges of the transition to 
college. But as a gifted mentor and as someone who had the rare ability 
to genuinely connect with people, to understand them, and to relate to 
them, Wil inspired a newfound sense of hope in countless students, and 
his advice, unfailing support, and encouragement turned around the 
lives of hundreds and perhaps thousands of people.
  And while students were away from Bowdoin during the summer, Wil 
dedicated his time to the Seeds of Peace International Camp in 
Otisfield, ME. It was an endeavor that he joined in the summer of 1999, 
before he graduated from Bowdoin, and it was one he carried on until 
last summer. At the camp, he mentored children from across the world, 
and challenged them to look at and judge their peers not by their race, 
ethnicity, or differences, but by their thoughts and their merit. Wil 
was truly a team player in this work, serving in numerous positions at 
Seeds of Peace over the years, from coach to counselor to associate 
director. But the title was always less important to Wil than knowing 
he was helping those he worked with at the camp. And true to the camp's 
mission, Wil cultivated seeds of peace within the heart of every child 
he met--his reach and impact extending around the world.
  That same spirit of mentorship drew him to the basketball courts of 
Catherine McAuley High School in South Portland, where he coached the 
girls' varsity team for a decade, amassing nearly twice as many wins 
than losses and, in a testament to his talent as a coach, bringing home 
a prized state championship in 2007. Through the game he loved, he 
taught young women about the power and virtue of leadership, character, 
and teamwork--the same traits he worked so hard to instill in students 
at Bowdoin, in young people at Seeds of Peace, or in anyone who came to 
him in search of help.
  There is a hole in the heart of our community today. But while Wil's 
loss is felt by countless people, his legacy will be carried on by the 
thousands who were fortunate enough to know him. Indeed, it is that 
legacy of caring, of hope, and of understanding which he has given to 
us and which we will give to future generations along with his story as 
proof that even the most unlikely of beginnings can yield remarkable 
outcomes. Today, the world is a lesser place for Wil's loss, but we are 
all better for him having been in it.
  My heart goes out to his daughter Olivia, his partner Maha Jaber, and 
her son, Nim, his family, and to all the people whose lives were 
touched by this extraordinary man's unfaltering enthusiasm, caring, and 
generosity.

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