Early Life, Education and Athletic Career
At age 11, he was successfully treated for polio with aggressive physical therapy. After earning a scholarship, Dawkins entered Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. There he was an all-league quarterback, and captain of the baseball team. He graduated from Cranbrook in the class of 1955 and was accepted for admission by two major institutions of higher learning.
Accepted by Yale University, Dawkins chose instead to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point. He won high honors, serving as Brigade Commander, President of his Class, Captain of the football team, and a "Star Man" in the top five percent of his class academically. A cadet is considered outstanding if he attains one of these positions. Dawkins was the only cadet in history to hold all four at once. He was featured in Life Magazine and Reader's Digest. Even before his graduation, many predicted the bright young man would make General and perhaps even be Army Chief of Staff. Dawkins was selected for the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award as a halfback for Army in 1958, and an All American under coach Earl Blaik. He was also an Assistant Captain for the hockey team. At Oxford, he won three Blues in rugby and is credited with popularizing the overarm throw (originally called the "Yankee torpedo pass") into the lineout.
Dawkins graduated from the Military Academy in 1959 with a very high class-standing, and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. He earned a degree at Oxford University in 1962 in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and later earned a M.P.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton.
Read more about this topic: Pete Dawkins
Famous quotes containing the words early, education, athletic and/or career:
“[In early adolescence] she becomes acutely aware of herself as a being perceived by others, judged by others, though she herself is the harshest judge, quick to list her physical flaws, quick to undervalue and under-rate herself not only in terms of physical appearance but across a wide range of talents, capacities and even social status, whereas boys of the same age will cite their abilities, their talents and their social status pretty accurately.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“You are told a lot about your education, but some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood, is perhaps the best education of all. If a man carries many such memories into life with him, he is saved for the rest of his days. And even if only one good memory is left in our hearts, it may also be the instrument of our salvation one day.”
—Feodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881)
“Being in a family is like being in a play. Each birth order position is like a different part in a play, with distinct and separate characteristics for each part. Therefore, if one sibling has already filled a part, such as the good child, other siblings may feel they have to find other parts to play, such as rebellious child, academic child, athletic child, social child, and so on.”
—Jane Nelson (20th century)
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)