The Journal

Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: LifeStyle

Jim Ellis

Empty white chairs greeted Jim Ellis, the man whose life inspired the motion picture "Pride," released in March, as he described his struggles to overcome racial and economic barriers in 1970s Philadelphia.


Approximately 50 people - most of whom were community members with their children - were scattered April 28 across the University Center Grant Gymnasium. Campus Activities program managers and UC building managers asked people in attendance to sit in the chairs instead of the bleachers in order to fill the venue.


"The movie wasn't as successful as we hoped it would be," said Katie McComb, graduate assistant for the UC and Campus Activities. Campus Activities advertised the event with the hope that "Pride" would draw students, similar to how "The Pursuit of Happyness" attracted hundreds to hear Chris Gardner Jan. 29.


McComb also said timing was an issue, as April is a month where students generally do not attend campus programming as they prepare for finals and summer vacation. Springfest events the past few weeks have similarly suffered a lack of attendance, McComb said.
The "Pride" of Jim Ellis


Ellis told the story of how he established Philadelphia's first all-black swimming team, which he said was an unusual feat for the time because of the stereotypical assumption that blacks have no interest in or cannot swim.


Learning to swim at an early age in his hometown of Pittsburg, Penn., Ellis seized the chance to expand black participation in the sport of swimming after he graduated from Philadelphia State University.


"I was going to create a team of African Americans that was going to compete," Ellis said.


In 1971, Ellis worked with the Philadelphia Department of Recreation to found a competitive swim team at a newly-constructed city pool in a poor area of town.


"I realized this was an opportunity for me to make a mark in a community," said Ellis, a self-described idealist and child of the '60s.


Ellis' belief that swimming is more than a sport, but rather a lifestyle, led him to enforce rigorous physical and academic standards upon his recruits. This included demanding report cards from his team in order to evaluate the swimmers' academic standing.


Junior Logan Johnson, an education major and a member of Webster's baseball team, said he particularly liked Ellis' emphasis on schoolwork.

Continued...

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