Horace Turner H\u201976 was a father figure for generations of Wabash men, and many of them returned Saturday to join his family and friends to honor and celebrate their mentor at the dedication of a classroom in his name at the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies.<\/p>\n
Hired as the first coordinator of programs at the then-newly founded Malcolm X Institute at Wabash in 1971, Turner\u00a0was later named\u00a0the\u00a0first executive director of the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies and held that post until his retirement in 2006. He died\u00a0July 2 of this year from pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n
As director of the MXI, Turner\u00a0brought to campus national and international leaders, scholars, activists, and entertainers, meant to heighten diversity awareness and inspire greater conversation of multicultural concerns. He created the KQ&Q Tutoring Program in which the black students tutored youth in the Crawfordsville community. Working with Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, Turner coordinated summer programs to engage, tutor and educate high school students in science. He\u00a0was also the faculty advisor to the WNDY Radio Station, the College\u2019s student-run radio\u00a0station, and a volunteer track and field coach.<\/p>\n
“Horace worked with many of you to find your identity as young black men in a rural, very white Crawfordsville where you could not even get your hair cut,” said Wabash President Gregory Hess. “He was so many things to so many people. He is the reason so many of you graduated and have gone on to do great things.<\/p>\n
“When you think of Wabash, you think of Horace Turner. So it is only\u00a0fitting that we name the main classroom at the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies in his memory.”<\/p>\n
Above all,\u00a0\u00a0Coach Rob Johnson H\u201977 said, “Horace cared.”<\/p>\n
As a father figure, advisor, advocate, and friend, Johnson added, “he\u00a0sometimes\u00a0cared more about these guys surviving at this school than they did.”<\/p>\n
“He\u00a0cared about us and we knew it,” said Willyerd Collier \u201975, who was a freshman at Wabash when Turner arrived. “That caring\u00a0was not something that was confined to the time you were here. It\u00a0followed you from the time you first met Horace, to the time the Lord took him home.”<\/p>\n
On Saturday those men Horace cared so much about\u00a0returned to campus to honor that love and tell their own stories about the man who, as Jeff Cusic \u201987\u00a0said, “understood that black lives matter.<\/p>\n
“He understood that, and he proved that every day in the lives of all these young black men who came through Wabash. Horace was a forerunner. He understood that success was all about family and relationships. And Horace was responsible for building the family and relationships\u00a0that have gathered here today to remember this great man.”<\/p>\n
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