Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany will be presented with the Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Liberty Award on Wednesday in Chicago.
Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and the Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine will help honor Delany at the Hilton Chicago for the conference’s commitment to diversity, equality and opportunity.
Big Ten schools produced their first African-American graduates as early as 1870, and Moses “Fleetwood” Walker became one of the first black student-athletes when he joined Michigan’s baseball team in 1882.
In 1972, the Big Ten created the Advisory Commission to advance the cause of African-American student-athletes. Two years later, the Big Ten hired C.D. Henry as the first African-American assistant commissioner of any conference.
Delany joined the Big Ten in 1989 and helped create the SCORE (Success Comes Out of Reading Everyday) program, partnering with Chicago elementary schools. In 1992, the Big Ten became the first conference to voluntarily adopt male and female participation goals.