Joe and 朱迪 贝尔 were recognized during the Homecoming football game Saturday. Joe graduated from the University in 1963 as its first African American to complete a degree. 他和朱迪已经结婚60年了. (摄影:Todd Weddle/和记棋牌娱乐)
11月. 3, 2021
和记棋牌娱乐，在十月十日的返校周末. 29-30, welcomed home its first African American graduate and made him its Homecoming grand marshal in honor of his legacy at the University.
Joe 贝尔 graduated from Northwest in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in health and secondary physical education while minoring in industrial arts. The degree paved his way to a teaching career that spanned 37 years and a coaching career that lasted 26 years.
和他结婚60年的妻子, 朱迪, 还有他的家人, 整个周末，贝尔在各种各样的活动中得到了认可.
During Northwest’s Board of Regents meeting Friday morning, University President Dr. 约翰·亚辛斯基向贝尔颁发了一块牌匾，“以表彰他的坚持不懈”, 追求高等教育, 以及他作为一名教育家的漫长而杰出的职业生涯.” Northwest’s Black 校友 and Friends Chapter also recognized 贝尔 during its meeting Friday, 体育部也认可了贝尔, 1959年到1962年，他是熊猫足球队的跑卫, 在m俱乐部名人堂晚宴上.
“夫人. J和I, 还有和记棋牌娱乐的员工和许多校友和朋友, 认识乔有这么愉快吗, 朱迪和他们的家人,亚辛斯基说. “作为骄傲的熊狸, Joe and 朱迪 exemplify the meaning of ‘Bearcat family’ and what it means to be a Bearcat. 他们持续学习的模式, 连接, 有爱心的, 实践文明和表现骄傲温暖了熊猫的心.”
西北总裁博士. John Jasinski recognized Joe 贝尔 in front of the University's Board of Regents on Friday for his “his perseverance, 追求高等教育, 以及他作为一名教育家的漫长而杰出的职业生涯.(图片来源:Todd Weddle/和记棋牌娱乐)
在周六, 贝尔 experienced the joy of riding down Fourth Street as the Homecoming grand marshal and a passenger in the lead car during the Homecoming parade. He also was recognized on the field of Bearcat Stadium during the Homecoming football game.
“Everything’s been great – more than what I expected,他说 during a break at the football game. “People wanted to take pictures with me, and I was glad that they really noticed me. 自50年代末和60年代以来，情况发生了变化，我很高兴看到这一点.”
的确，自从他还是和记棋牌娱乐的学生以来，很多事情都发生了变化.
贝尔是由祖母抚养长大的, 是谁把全家从古德曼搬过来的, 密西西比州, 到滑铁卢, 爱荷华州. 在那里，足球被证明是贝尔推进教育的途径. 贝尔和他的祖母都负担不起学费, 而是贝尔的高中教练, 唐汉森, 谁曾就读于和记棋牌娱乐, 鼓励他考虑加入熊熊队. Hanson helped 贝尔 secure a scholarship to play football and a financial aid package that paid all but his out-of-state fees.
“我认为，就他的个性而言，这很好，”朱迪说. “I think he would have been overwhelmed going to a bigger college because everything would have been too fast for him.”
The civil rights movement was gaining momentum when 贝尔 arrived in Maryville for the fall semester in 1959 and the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 wouldn’t pass until after he graduated. 黑人学生以前也来过玛丽维尔，但没有一个留下来. 在和记棋牌娱乐的大部分时间里，贝尔是该校唯一的黑人学生.
“他们来到这里，留下来踢足球, 他们发现那里没有其他黑人,贝尔说. “他们没有女朋友，足球赛季一结束，他们就离开了.”
Joe 贝尔 was a member of the Bearcat football team from 1959 to 1962 and became Northwest's first African American graduate in 1963. (铁塔年鉴照片)
贝尔, 然而, 在朱迪的鼓励和支持下，我留下来了, whom he had known since their junior high school days and married during his sophomore year at Northwest. “而不是去堪萨斯城和圣. 乔和奥马哈, 寻找约会对象, 我大二的时候和一个在滑铁卢认识的女孩结婚了, 爱荷华州,他说.
The 贝尔s say they carry fond memories of their time at Northwest and the Maryville community, 但遭遇种族主义也留下了印记. “学校的人对和记棋牌娱乐很好，”朱迪说. “只是镇上有几个人对和记棋牌娱乐不好. 和记棋牌娱乐有宽阔的肩膀. 和记棋牌娱乐能处理好.”
Joe recalled a road trip with the Bearcat football team when a restaurant manager mistook him for the team’s bus driver and refused to serve him. When one of 贝尔’s coaches corrected the manager and threatened to take the team elsewhere for their meal, 经理选择为全队服务, 包括乔.
朱迪在当地的杂货店找不到工作，因为商店, 雇主告诉她, 害怕失去客户. A minister subsequently helped her find a job in the laundry room at the former St. Francis Hospital in Maryville where she had an opportunity to train as a nursing aid. 她决定不再追究下去, 虽然, after an encounter with a patient who became angry about her presence in the hospital room. “I was upset because I was born in the north and I was not used to being called names,” 朱迪 said. “所以我说，‘哦，不，这不会发生的. 我要走了.’”
In another incident, Joe borrowed a car to take 朱迪 to a laundromat to wash her clothes. The next morning, Joe received a call with instructions not to bring his wife to the laundromat. 当当地一家电器店听说了这件事, 它为贝尔一家提供了一套洗衣机和烘干机. “和记棋牌娱乐赢得了三个州的支持，”朱迪说. “那时候一切都很好，所以这是一种祝福.”
Joe and 朱迪 贝尔 were pictured in the 1962 Tower yearbook with their son, 克里斯. (铁塔年鉴照片)
离开足球场后，乔把时间都花在了学习上. He lived on campus with 朱迪 and worked at a clothing store in Maryville and later an electronics store. 1962年Tower年鉴上的一张照片显示了这对夫妇和他们蹒跚学步的儿子, 克里斯, 在标题下, “已婚学生是大学招生的重要组成部分.”
While most of his classmates in Waterloo were either working at the local foundry or going into military service, Joe was determined to succeed at more than football and set his sights on completing his college degree. 除了他在和记棋牌娱乐的学士学位, Joe completed graduate work at the University of 伊利诺斯州 in vocational and technical education.
“His education was more important to him than anything and that was his goal,朱迪说, who spent 30 years working for American Honda and says she regrets not pursuing a degree of her own during the couple’s time in Maryville. “他想要更好的生活.”
1963年从和记棋牌娱乐毕业后, 乔在安妮·威坦迈尔之家开始了他的职业生涯, 达文波特的一家孤儿院, 爱荷华州. 两年后, 他开始在Riverdale高中教书, 就在密西西比河对岸的拜伦港, 伊利诺斯州, 他在哪里度过了接下来的35年. During that span, he taught electronics, drafting, physical education and summer drivers education. 他还执教了26年的足球.
If it wasn’t for his young family, Joe says he might have played professional football. 芽格兰特, who would go on to lead the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances, was coaching the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers and showed an interest in signing Joe.
“The only thing I remember about Winnipeg is it was 14 degrees when we were playing,乔说. “天气很冷，巡线员去市中心买了手套, but the running backs coach wouldn’t let us because there weren’t really good gloves for holding the ball back in the ’50s and ’60s. 那是笔不小的交易, 但我写信告诉他我不能去，因为, 与此同时, 我有一个小孩要照顾，还有一份稳定的工作.”
贝尔夫妇喜欢在拜伦港乡下的农场里抚养他们的两个儿子. Now retired and residing in East Moline, 伊利诺斯州, they have five grandchildren. “和记棋牌娱乐离城市很近——岩岛, 莫林和所有这些，但和记棋牌娱乐喜欢乡村生活,乔说.
回顾他们的经历, 贝尔夫妇对新一代大学生有什么建议?
“和记棋牌娱乐总是谈论教育有多重要，”乔说. “你必须努力工作，在这个体系中提升自己.”
朱迪补充说:“不管你是什么颜色.”
