On naming Grambling’s arena in Hobdy’s honor: It’s time
Efforts to recognize former Grambling standout athlete and coach Fred Hobdy by naming the Assembly Center in his honor continue at a feverish pace behind the scenes.
Supporters have been contacting potential advocates from the University of Louisiana System board, which oversees the university, to signature alumni like Doug Williams and James “Shack” Harris; from the GSU Student Government Association to the Legislative Black Caucus leadership and the Louisiana Governor’s office.
“We’re hoping to push from the top and well as the bottom in a grass-roots effort,” said Dr. Jimmy McJamerson, who has a lengthy association with the university. He’s an Grambling alum, a longtime professor, a former director of alumni affairs and a Hobdy family member.
Hobdy certainly has the credentials. Almost 25 years after his retirement, he remains the winningest men’s basketball coach in Louisiana history — and the only one to win a national title.
Hobdy later served in a variety of administrative positions in the athletic department, and remained until the end a key confidant of Grambling legend Eddie Robinson’s. (Coach Rob called him “Lefty”; in the signed photo above, held by Hobdy’s widow Mary, Robinson tells Hobdy: “We must never give up.”)
Hobdy also played a seldom celebrated, but key role in building Grambling’s football program: He was a member of Eddie Robinson’s remarkable “un” team of 1942 — they went undefeated, even unscored upon — and then was on the sidelines overseeing ends with Coach Rob for decades, including his second unblemished season, in 1955.
Yet Grambling university administrators have resisted the idea of recognizing Hobdy in this way. Why? They say they prefer to try to sell the naming rights to the arena.
Don’t hold your breath.
While it’s true that the Grambling Assembly Center has been one of the finest in the Southwestern Athletic Conference since its debut two seasons ago, there isn’t a single state facility of any recognizable size that has secured those kind of corporate dollars.
That’s up to and including the Louisiana Superdome, which just earned a record-tying 10th Super Bowl bid. It’s unrealistic to think that a basketball arena tucked into the back of the pine tree-surrounded Grambling campus in north Louisana will be the first.
“I am puzzled to try and understand why this present administration does not want to honor a Grambling grad who brought state and national recognition to his school,” McJamerson says. “Though words and deeds we firmly believe that Coach Hobdy deserves this honor. What a great way to honor two fraternity brothers. (Hobdy and Robinson were members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.) Together, they worked day and night to help make Grambling State University what it is today on the state, national and international levels. What a fitting tribute it would be to have Robinson Stadium facing the Fred Hobdy Assembly Center on the GSU campus.”
It’s time to get it done.
Hobdy passed away 10 years ago, but more pressing than this anniversary is that Mary Hobdy (also the former longtime secretary to R.W.E. “Prez” Jones; that’s her with Hobdy protege Larry Wright) has suffered through her own health problems of late.
“We’ve got to get it done quickly,” McJamerson told me. “We must exert every effort so that she can see it. If I have to call President Obama himself, I don’t have a problem with that.”
The important, now long overdue, mission of naming the Assembly Center in Hobdy’s honor includes a newly crafted resolution — which, McJamerson said, was recently adopted by the Grambling SGA.
Here it is:
RESOLUTION
Supporting the Naming of the New Assembly Center on the Campus of
Grambling State University in Honor of the late Coach Fredrick C. HobdyWhereas, Coach Fredrick C. Hobdy served his alma mater, Grambling State University (GSU), the citizens of Grambling, Lincoln Parish and Louisiana with distinction and dedication for thirty (30) years in the capacities of high school basketball coach (Grambling Laboratory, Peabody High and Grambling High), and at GSU he was Physical Education instructor, women’s basketball coach, assistant football coach, GSU head men’s basketball coach, assistant athletic director and athletic director, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy during his coaching career did bring recognition and fame to his alma mater by winning ten Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championships and the NAIA National Championship in 1961, thus making Grambling‘s men basketball team the only one in state history to win a national championship, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy was cited in 1963 as the “NAIA Coach of the Year” in 1963 by Basketball Writers of America, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy has been inducted into four (4) Halls of Fame, namely: Louisiana Sports, Grambling State University, Louisiana Basketball Association and Southwestern Athletic Conference further adding to his list of honors, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy earned the title of “SWAC Coach of the Year” six (6) times, coached twenty-six (26) All American basketball players and sent sixteen (16) basketball players to the professional ranks, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy continues to hold the title of winningest basketball coach in Louisiana state history, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy demonstrated through words and deeds his love and caring for students/athletes as a “father figure/mentor”, and as an instructor, he encouraged their academic progress and he kept his promise of “being there” whenever they needed him even after they completed their tenure at Grambling, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy, together with Willis Reed, initiated the first summer basketball camp for boys at GSU as a community outreach service and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy was a voting, participating property owner and contributing citizen of the City of Grambling, and
Whereas, his love for his alma mater was demonstrated through Grambling University National Alumni Association membership and his consistent Financial support through the GSU Foundation, and
Whereas, Coach Hobdy through his love for his wife, Mrs. Mary Scott Hobdy, his daughter, Lisa Yvette, and his son, Lenny Arnold, he demonstrated the values of a loving husband, family man, and caring father,
Therefore, we the signers do hereby endorse and earnestly recommend to Dr. Horace A. Judson, President of Grambling State University, and the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors that the new assembly building be named in honor of Coach Fredrick C. Hobdy as a fitting tribute to this Son of the Black and Gold.
This conversation, though it’s increasingly difficult to see just why, has been going on for years.
It’s time to get it done.
It’s time to get involved.
“I am reminded of a quote from Fredrick Douglas who said: ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand and it never did and never will,’” McJamerson wrote, in letter to TheDerisoReport that boasts as much eloquence as it does righteous passion.
With this in mind, I ask that your readers, if they agree with this resolution, to contact the following and request that they use the good graces of their offices to convince Dr. Judson to comply with this resolution. Your readers can become a part of history in getting this building named for Coach Fred Hobdy:
Dr. Horace Judson, President of Grambling State University @318-247-3811
Dr. Moffett President of the System Board of Supervisors @225-342-6950
Dr. Sally Clausen, President Louisiana Board of Regents @225-342-4253
Bobby Jindal, Governor, State of Louisiana @866-366-1121.
Also, please contact our state and congressional elected official.
It’s time.
Time, because selling the arena’s naming rights is an empty promise. We all know that.
Time, because there are larger forces at work that could prevent Mary Hobdy — in her brave cancer struggle, she’s become a personal hero of mine — from seeing the end of this unneccesarily protracted journey.
Time, because it’s the right thing to do.
8 Responses to “On naming Grambling’s arena in Hobdy’s honor: It’s time”
I agree 100% that he should be honored in this fashion. i am a GSU alumni Academic and Track all American from ‘82-’85 and i had to pleasure of knowing Coach Hobdy and i know of his dedication to Grambling the school the facality and the Students.
It is a Crying Shame that this is such a debate… it should be an Honor NOT a Debate.
Yolande R. Small
Comment made on May 21, 2009 at 12:47 pmAll I can do is modify your statement: “It’s PAST time”. This should have been done at the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the building.
Comment made on May 22, 2009 at 4:28 amI really feel bad about this,mainly because I had a chance to work long side Coach Hobdy,I know what Grambling meant to him.The man gave his whole life to Grambling,he also was the TE’s coach for a number of years.I am hoping the people we have in place will make the call on this matter
Comment made on May 22, 2009 at 11:18 amSeldom are things engraved or stamped with approval because of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. Coach Hobdy demonstrated the true meaning of excellence with his hard work, bleeding, sweat and tears for so many of us who had an opportunity to share the vision of the Black and Gold.
Much of Gramblings foundation is Coach Hobdy. Its pillars still stand and support unlimited boundaries because of Coach Fred Hobdy. So let it be known that Fred Hobdy’s efforts, determination and vision for the Black and Gold are recognized by naming the Grambling Assembly Center in his honor.
President Jones, Eddie Robinson, Conrad Hutchinson and Fred Hobdy are a few of our roots. Grambling State University is the tree of so many roots. Please don’t tamper with the root!
Comment made on May 23, 2009 at 8:44 amIt is time….
I attented GSU during the years 1963-1967. Coach Hobdy was the Basketball coach during that time. Attending the games in the old gymnasium was the best entertainment a college student could have. It was not hard to see that this man was experienced in his techniques, his coaching ability and his ability to pass his knowledge on to others in his charge.
I feel it is time to name the new Arena after such a well known figure in Basketball Academics at Grambling State University(GSU).
Comment made on May 23, 2009 at 5:44 pmWell said guys… I am encouraging others to voice their concerns here and in letters, emails, communications to our elected officials and current administrators. To be honest, I’m almost embarassed that we have to take such actions…but the need to take action is far greater than the embarassment of leaving this to the designs of Dr. Judson. No sponsorship naming rights are forthcoming… who’s gonna respect us when we obviously don’t respect our own. I think we stand a better chance of selling sponsorships and ad spots to the Fred Hobdy Assembly Center than we can to the Assembly Center.
Comment made on May 24, 2009 at 3:18 pmI am a part of Legacy for Grambling State University and Grambling College. In honor of all who fall under the leadership of Coach Eddie Robinson and Coach Fred Hobdy it would be very unfortunate for everything that Grambling has stood for to be erased in a physical aspect. Seeing all the changes the University has made is a positive step for our future Alums but it also is overwhelming somewhat to ignore what our predecessors’ hard won experience has to face.
My father, Foster Wheeler and many other Coaches and Teachers succeeded under Coach Hobdy’s leadership. As a Grambling Cheerleader (1978-1982), I too, have much gratitude for being led under the same Athletic Program as my Mother and Father did. My brother’s athletic abilities were enriched by Reed/Hobdy basketball camp each summer.
We not only want to remember what it was like by not seeing “The Yard” as we saw it in times past, or by not ever seeing “the tree of knowledge” again. We want our University to know what kind of leaders made Grambling what it is today.
No, the new look of the University is not an issue for me, but watering down our family’s history is. My children will attend Grambling and I want them to have the same “breath taking” stories that I cherish in my heart from my mother, father, uncles, aunts and brother.
…and when life’s game is fought and won, the hills will ring with victory’s song.
Legacy since 1951
Comment made on May 26, 2009 at 9:13 amAs an international student studying at the historic Grambling State University, I must say that it is quite embarassing to hear that caoch Hobdy is being stripped of an honor that is rightfully his.
Gone are the days of slavery when blacks in the American Deep South would achieve things and not be granted them simply due to to steroetypes and also to the color of their skin.
Is is time that this “son of the soil” be treated with dignity and respect before it is too late…
Comment made on May 27, 2009 at 11:22 pmLeave a Comment