I am going to Arkansas to attend the funeral to one of the key figures in my life, Dr. David Ray. David passed away this past Saturday in Hot Springs Village, AR of COVID. David was my first mentor and was one of the people who shaped my life. I was very saddened to hear of Dr. Ray’s passing. He was a wonderful person and inspiration to many people.
In 1975, as I was looking for a school that would give me a track scholarship someone I met someone who suggested the University of Arkansas Monticello (UAM). He had gone to UAM on a track scholarship. He said he could call Coach Harry Denson and see if he needed a good long and triple Jumper. He let me know Coach Denson was interested and wanted me to come to UAM for a visit in early August. I needed a school who could give a full scholarship as my parents had made it clear they could not afford to send us to school.
UAM was an NAIA school so they could not offer full scholarships. When I visited UAM, Coach Denson told me how much aid he could provide, which was not enough to cover the full cost. He asked what career I thought I wanted to pursue. I told him law. He said that if I wanted to be a lawyer r=then I would need to learn to debate. In a stroke of luck, Coach Denson lived next door to Dr. David Ray who coached the UAM debate team.
The next day, I had breakfast with David to discuss joining the debate team. Little did I know that breakfast would be the start of a life long friendship and mentor relationship that would help shape my life. David indicated that if I was willing to commit to the debate team, he could “find” the money that would cover all tuition and other fees which track couldn’t cover thus allowing me to attend UAM. without that, I may have never gone to college.
I spent the next four years on the debate and track teams. While both activities helped teach life lessons, debate taught me skills that I would utilize the rest of my life. From debate, I learned to clearly articulate a point, present to a large group, create logical arguments and break an issue into clearly spelled out components. More importantly, I spent four years learning valuable life lessons from David. He was one of the most positive, upbeat and understanding people I ever met. We were frequently traveling to debate tournaments in a van for 8-10 hours.
During those trips, David always took us to see historic sites and other points of interest. Every trip was a learning experience that served to expand our horizons. We also grew into a great team. I think we regularly surprised debate teams from the major universities. I remember standing next to other teams when they posted debate pairings and would hear derogatory comments about debating a team from a small obscure school. We frequently “snuck up” on those teams. I learned to never underestimate anyone.
After leaving school, I lost touch with UAM for many years. David reached out in 2000 to encourage us to come back to UAM for a debate get together at homecoming. We went to that debate reunion and got to see old friends and make new friends. We learned the the debate program’s success had continued to grow and was now a program that was ranked in the top 10 of debate for the country. In fact, UAM debaters had traveled to England for an eight round debate with Cambridge and Oxford. The teams split the eight rounds. David had built the team from the little school in one of the poorest parts of the country to a debate powerhouse. David was only the third inductee to the debate Hall of Fame.
More importantly, I re-connected with David. It reminded me of the critical role he had played in helping me grow as a person. David had stayed at UAM and had grown with the University. He probably could have moved at some point to a larger school but said he didn’t because he said he could have a bigger impact on students by staying at a smaller school. Just another example of his selfless attitude. He had been promoted to Vice Chancellor.
David stayed at UAM for more than 40 years. It is impossible to count the number of people who he helped achieve their dreams and goals but if I had to guess, it would be in the hundreds.
I lost a true friend and mentor with David’s passing. I will miss him.
