ACTIVITIES

On Tuesday February 6, 2007, the Tartan Scholars hosted "Termite" Watkins as our guest speaker in two public presentations open to all of MCC and the greater community.

Maurice "Termite" Watkins, at the age of ten, started to turn his life around and became a boxer. At age sixteen, Watkins became the nation's youngest national Golden Gloves champion. He was an astounding amateur, with 128 wins and only ten losses. Watkins turned pro his senior year in high school, and set his sights on a world title. His 58 professional wins included 48 knock-outs. In 1980, he fought in Caesar's Palace for the coveted world title in a double main event that featured Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes. In a fifteen-round brutal fight, Watkins lost to champion Saoul Mamby. He then began a successful sales career. Then after the events of 9/11/01, he felt called to help his nation. In 2003, over the strong objections of his wife and children, went to Iraq to help eradicate snakes, scorpions and bugs from the facilities used by the US government and military, using skills he learned as he grew up with his family's pest control business.

As the news stories and a book tells, Termite's service soon spread beyond vipers and flies - he offered boxing classes to soldiers, officers, and aid workers. News spread of this high-energy boxer with the infectious "can-do" attitude. Coalition leader Mike Gfoeller presented an amazing challenge to the Texan: build an Iraqi Olympic boxing team in the middle of war and get them into the Olympics in Athens. Ousted for the unspeakable crimes against its athletes, Iraq had not been in the Olympics in decades. "It was a slim-to-nothing chance, maybe one in a million," Termite said.

Meeting his team of forgotten, rusty athletes in Baghdad, Termite was unimpressed with their skills but amazed by the hearts of these twenty-four Iraqis. Some arrived without shoes; none had headgear or mouthpieces. "It took tremendous courage for these men to show up on that soccer field to meet an American," said Termite.

He fell in love with them and put his life at risk every day to help them reach their Olympic dreams. Termite's incredible perseverance and total devotion to a goal was called upon to overcome daunting obstacles. The quest of this unlikely team and their colorfully charismatic coach inspired the world. In his presentations, Watkins takes audiences through his experiences and perseverance to reach his goal and qualifying one Olympian Iraqi. His inspirational story, aptly named Termite, authored by Suzy Pepper, will provide the basis for a movie produced by Fred Kuehnert, known for the Academy-award winning movie, The Buddy Holly Story. Termite will also be available at the end of each presentation to sign copies of Termite.

The Tartan Scholars enjoyed a private luncheon with Termite.

The Spring 2006 semester kicked off with a luncheon with Bernard Rapoport, Waco philanthropist and concluded with a visit from former Sudanese child slave, Simon Aban Deng.

Mr. Rapoport encouraged the Tartans to continue to pursue their education.  He said, "If you own your education, you own yourself.  If you don't own your education, someone else will own you."

He also stressed that successful living comes by not just behaving, but by taking action in one's own life.  It is easy to be passive and to just behave and allow events and circumstances to control one's destiny, but the harder yet more challenging task is to take action in one's life, take risks, and to be purposeful in living.

Mr. Deng delivered his message of awareness for the plight of childhood slavery in Sudan. As a nine-year-old Sudanese child, Deng was abducted by an Arab man during a raid on his village and forced into several years of slavery in northern Sudan. In his speeches, he recounts being fed only scraps of food and suffering through beatings by his masters, who forced him to watch their cattle and clean their dishes, and who referred to him as "Abeed" or "black slave." Years later, after Deng finally escaped, he was a national swimming champion and made his way to the United States, where he currently lives. He is a lifeguard and is active in the anti-slavery movement, trying to raise awareness of the plight of enslaved people around the world today.

For more information on past activities, please click one of the dates below.

Past Tartan Activities

September 21, 2005
September 2005
February 2005
March 2003

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