MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Hall, Harden, Burton, Frazier

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING WALTER REED UPON HIS INDUCTION INTO THE MISSISSIPPI SPORTS HALL OF FAME.

WHEREAS, Walter Lee "Toomsuba" Reed, a distinguished athletic administrator, coach and player who served as Athletic Director at Jackson State University and Florida A&M, was born on September 30, 1933; and

WHEREAS, Walter Reed attended high school from 1947-1951 at Stevenson Vocational High School in Toomsuba, Mississippi, lettering in football and graduating with honors; and

WHEREAS, Walter Reed enrolled at Jackson State University and lettered three years in football and track while making the Jackson State Honor Roll, and received his Bachelor of Science from Jackson State University in 1955, majoring in health, physical education and recreation with a minor in social studies; and

WHEREAS, from 1955-1959, Walter Reed served as a teacher/coach and supervision principal at Lawrence, Mississippi, Elementary School and later moved to Forest, Mississippi, where he taught math and social studies and served as an athletic coach at N.H. Pilate School; and

WHEREAS, in 1961, Walter Reed earned his master's degree in physical education from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and in 1965, Reed returned to his alma mater Jackson State as an assistant football coach and head baseball coach, leading the Tigers baseball team to its first winning season in 1966; and

WHEREAS, Walter Reed returned to East Mississippi in 1966 when he was named principal at N.H. Pilate in Newton, and from 1967-1970, was a supervisor for adult basic education in Newton Public Schools, receiving the Newton Public Schools Student Teacher of the Year award in 1967; and

WHEREAS, Walter Reed's career took a different twist from 1971-1973 when he worked for the Greater Miami Legal Services in Miami, Florida, as a practice intern, while receiving his doctorate at the Coral Gables campus of the University of Miami with an outside major in urban studies and human relations, and an inside major in health and phys-ed; and

WHEREAS, in 1974, Walter Reed was hired as Director of Intramural Sports and an assistant professor of health, phys-ed and recreation, and in 1997, was named Athletic Director at Jackson State University; and

WHEREAS, during Reed's tenure as athletic director, Jackson State achieved numerous sports championships, participated in the NCAA Division 1AA football players and hosted four of those playoff games, and had the first historical black college women's basketball team to participate in the NCAA Division 1A Tournament and to host a tournament playoff game; and

WHEREAS, in 1988, Walter Reed was named Athletic Director at Florida A&M, where, during his six-year tenure, the FAMU sports teams won a combined 25 MEAC titles and over two dozen athletes were nationally ranked in NCAA Division 1 stats in baseball, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, football and softball; and

WHEREAS, the most noteworthy highlight of Walter's administration skills is the fact that he never operated a deficit program in his entire 17 years as athletic director; and

WHEREAS, Walter Reed has served on 27 professional and charitable organizations and has made considerable contributions to amateur athletics; and

WHEREAS, although he retired officially from athletics in 1994, Walter Reed currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Central Mississippi Chapter for the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame and the All American Football Foundation; is the chair of the Capital City Football Classic Steering Committee and the Jackson State University Sports Hall of Fame Club; and spends hours working as a volunteer at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum; and

WHEREAS, Walter Reed is married to the former Martha Ducksworth and they have three children, sons Clifton and Walter, and daughter Kathy:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby congratulate and commend Walter Lee "Toomsuba" Reed upon the occasion of his induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Walter Reed and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.