NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Visits Campus

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a basketball icon, activist, author, actor, and ambassador, visited the University of Rochester’s River Campus on November 5, 2018. In addition to speaking to a packed house at the Louis Alexander Palestra, he addressed the media and also took part in a roundtable discussion with students.

His talk is the first in a series called Dean’s Initiative: Difficult Conversations as a Catalyst for Change, presented by Donald Hall, the University’s Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering.

Abdul-Jabbar’s speech is called “Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black & White.” He discussed issues that are dividing America—racism, economic inequality, social injustice, and the power of the media—while drawing upon his personal experiences as an African-American and Muslim. He also focused on the solutions that could unite people and inspire younger generations to continue the path toward change.

The 7-foot-2 Abdul-Jabbar is among the most successful and versatile athletes in sports history. Born Lew Alcindor in New York City, he won three consecutive national college basketball titles at UCLA, and six National Basketball Association titles with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. He remains the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points and was inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

A strong supporter of boxer Muhammad Ali’s refusal to join the war in Vietnam, he converted to Sunni Islam in 1968 and refused to try out for the US Olympic basketball team that summer in protest to the unequal treatment of African-Americans. He began using the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—which means “the noble one, servant of the Almighty”—in 1971.

He has been a regular media contributor to discussions about issues of race and religion, has written several nonfiction books, and recently joined the writing team for Hulu’s reboot of Veronica Mars.

In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named Abdul-Jabbar a cultural ambassador for the United States, and he traveled the world promoting the importance of education, social and racial tolerance, and cultural understanding, using sports as a means of empowerment.

In 2016, President Obama appointed Abdul-Jabbar to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition and presented him with the presidential medal of freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.

Abdul-Jabbar’s acting career began with a role in the 1972 Bruce Lee film Game of Death, and his resume includes cult movies Airplane! and Fletch. He also has made appearances in TV classics such as Full House, Everybody Loves Raymond and Diff’rent Strokes, and last spring he was a contestant on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

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