Right is still right even if no one does it. Wrong is still wrong, even if everyone does it.
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It’s not easy being a hero. I guess that’s the way it should be. Otherwise anyone could be one and the designation would not mean anything.
We lost a hero last week although the mere mention of her name still makes seem people see red. Or should I say it makes some people see red and black.
Jan Kemp, long ago vilified by most in the Bulldog Nation, passed away from complications due to Alzheimer’s at a too early age. No doubt the stress she endured had to play a role in her early passing. The human body and mind are only capable of dealing with so much and she certainly had to weather more than her fair share of storms when she made the decision to do what was right.
Of course, we all agree doing what is right is, well, the right thing to do. But how many of us have the inner makeup to do it when the time comes? How many of us are willing to put everything we know from family to our career on the line for what is “right?”
It’s not an easy thing to do and most simply look the other way when that moment of truth comes. It goes back to what makes some heroes. Kemp was a hero. She knew what was going on inside the archaic remedial studies program for athletes at the University of Georgia was wrong. Athletes being shuffled through for what they could do on the football field with little regard of whether they could pass a test or in some extreme cases, read or write.
While not as widespread today, back in the early 80s if you could contribute on the football field, it was not unheard of, common in some instances, to get a free pass in the classroom. A disgrace yes, but that was the nature of the beast.
Kemp became the rallying point for all UGA fanatics, most of whom never even attended the Athens-based school. Called every name in the book, most of which could not printed here, Kemp pressed on after her firing and was determined to be the light that exposed the dark side of college athletics.
She eventually won, although even today, decades later, her name is still cursed and spit on by those who view winning football games as the real meaning of college. Her death was actually celebrated by some. One post on a message board referred to the fact it took Georgia two decades to win an SEC title in football after her deeds and then said, “Good riddance” to her.
Reaction like this is why we have so few heroes. It’s easier to simply ignore wrong doings and pretend the injustice which is occurring is not happening. Most of us have done so at some time in our life. Not wanting to get involved, not wanting to rock the boat and simply wanting to stay in the shadows are reasons we tell ourselves not to speak up and do what is right.
Jan Kemp did what was right, however. She had the courage few of us have. Her passing did garner some positive press coverage in late 2008, which was a welcome sight. Still, there is no statue honoring her for her deeds in what she did.
No, the statue was recently unveiled for the football coach in charge of the program she revealed to be corrupt.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. E-mail comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
