University of North Carolina Athletics
Stuart Scott Inducted Into NC Journalism Hall Of Fame
October 24, 2015 | General, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
by Turner Walston
The University of North Carolina inducted Stuart Scott into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame Friday afternoon. The 1987 Carolina alumnus spent 21 years at ESPN as one of the company's most beloved personalities, infusing sports highlights and discussion with a conversational, relatable delivery and representing a culture that had been missing from the television sports landscape. After battling cancer for seven years, Scott died in January.
Susan King, dean of the UNC School of Media and Journalism, paid tribute to Scott by quoting some of the journalists that nominated him for induction. “I'm so thrilled that his family can feel Stu's impact on a generation, on sports broadcasting, and on UNC,” King said.
“Stuart Scott was a new voice in broadcasting,” King continued, “an authentic voice that challenged a new generation of students to find their own voice.”
The letters nominating Scott to the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame poured in after his death, King said. She quoted one such letter, from Charlotte Observer writer and Carolina alumnus Jonathan Jones. “He brought a culture to viewers that a large portion of the country had either avoided or been oblivious to,” Jones wrote. “In short, he talked and looked like us. Stuart Scott showed me that it was cool to talk about sports the way you talked to your friend. He showed me it was possible for a young black kid in North Carolina to go on to talk about sports news nationally.”
Scott's impact will continue to be felt, King said, because of Scott's 'broadcasting coaching tree.' “There are now hundreds of young journalists, men and women, black and white, who will be true to their experience, authentic, real, talented,” she said. “I believe that those young people will be Stuart Scott's legacy as a pioneer, and I only wish that he was here tonight to feel that gift that he shared with the public and this new generation.”
Carolina chancellor Carol Folt said “Stuart beat cancer because he won at life.” Throughout his bout with cancer, Scott continued to lead a full life. The Stuart Scott Foundation exists to help cancer fighters do the same. “He set an example of courage and perseverance and dignity for those who knew him and loved him and through that foundation, it passes on to many more people,” Folt said.
Tar Heel and U.S. Women's Soccer legend and World Football Hall of Fame member Mia Hamm inducted Scott. She quoted Scott in his speech at the 2014 ESPY Awards, when he won the Jimmy V Perseverance Award. “He said, 'When you die, it doesn't mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live.'” Hamm encouraged attendees to honor Scott “by living our lives with more honor, with more integrity, with fairness, compassion, grace, dignity, and above all joy. To be completely present in the company of others, because Stuart always was. When you were talking to him, he was there with you. And let's be kinder and more loving to one another and always remember what bound Stuart to so many of us in this room is what he knew and what so many of us feel: that every day is a great day to be a Tar Heel.”
Hamm introduced Scott's sister Susan, who accepted the induction and remembered her younger brother as a young dreamer and as an inspiration in his cancer fight. “I don't know why some of us survive cancer and it takes others, but I do know this: It is never about beating it physically, because in the end, we're all just dust,” Susan Scott said. “It is about beating it mentally, and perhaps more importantly, spiritually. And on those two fronts, Stuart Scott was a boss.”
Friday's event began with a video which interspersed clips of Scott's time at ESPN, WRAL, 'Late Night with Roy' and his 2001 Carolina commencement speech with tributes from UNC Media & Journalism alumni. The alumni said that Scott inspired them with his work in front of the camera and beyond it, with his familiar SportsCenter catchphrases and his personal attention. Many of those interviewed said that Scott had given them his personal cell phone number, pledging to help them or offer advice, offering evidence that Scott was as sincere in person as he was relational on television.
The introductory video for the Carolina men's basketball team has included a clip of Scott from the 2004 edition of 'Late Night With Roy,' and that same clip was present in Friday's video tribute. It's the reason Roy Williams himself said on Friday, “When I think of 'Late Night with Roy,' I don't think of Roy. I think of Stuart Scott.”
“That's what it's all about, right there,” Scott said in the 2004 edition of 'Late Night,' pointing to the interlocking 'NC' at center court. “That's on the floor. That's on your shirt. That's in your heart.”
Stuart Scott always had Carolina in his heart. Carolina will forever have Stuart in hers.