For Richard Lapchick, the games are more than a game.
Lapchick — scholar, author, activist, crusader for equality — has long used sports as a vehicle to campaign for human rights, and his workspace at the University of Central Florida is itself a testament to diversity.
Some of his many mementoes feature his father, Joe Lapchick, a basketball pioneer who passed to his son a hunger for social justice. Others recall longtime friend Muhammad Ali, who fought outside the ring alongside Lapchick to create social change, and Nelson Mandela, another towering figure to whom he feels a deep connection.
For a professor, “office” also means “office hours.” Lapchick is a mentor to many students, whom he takes on annual field trips to do good in the world.
PHOTOS BY BRIAN CARLSON / COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
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Talking with Nelson Mandela in 1990.
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Lapchick was among those at the White House when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a lifelong friend, received the Presidential Medal of Feedom from President Barack Obama in November.
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Family pictures fill Lapchick’s desk.
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Lapchick’s father, Joe, was longtime coach at St. John’s.
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Lapchick with whiteboard full of commitments and deadlines.
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Before coaching, Lapchick’s father was a basketball star with the original Celtics.
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Lapchick deeply admired Muhammad Ali (pictured here with Kofi Annan, then U.N. secretary general). Their friendship dated back to 1979.
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