Story Links
Feb. 6, 2004
by Chip Rogers
Less than 24 hours after leading the Cavaliers to an 89-74 win over Coastal Carolina on December 22, Virginia head basketball coach Pete Gillen was out on the road again-this time on a trip to speak to Hanover Juvenile Correctional Center students. The speaking engagement is just one example of Gillen’s reaching out to the community and becoming involved with the people in Central Virginia.
Since arriving in Charlottesville in 1998, Gillen has made frequent contributions to the community, serving on a number of boards at local chapters of national service organizations. Gillen is a member of the boards of the I Have a Dream Foundation, the Salvation Army, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). “If I reach only one person, then I have met my goal,” said Gillen. A quick glance at his engagements, however, reveals that he has reached more than one person.
Gillen has worked with a number of constituencies during his career in Charlottesville, ranging from elementary students at Clark School to Alzheimer’s patients and their families in a walk in which he participated with his team.
Gillen’s work with the elementary schools is based on the “Character Counts” program, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian character education framework that teaches the “Six Pillars of Character”: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. A frequent speaker with the program, Gillen ventures to local grade schools and talks to the students about the importance of character in people and how to develop and maintain it.
“I go to a number of schools, like Clark, and talk to students there about character and how sports can play a supporting role,” said Gillen.
The I Have A Dream Program “helps children from low-income areas reach their education and career goals by providing a long-term program of mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment with an assured opportunity for higher education,” according to the mission statement from the Foundation.
Gillen is also active with older students, serving in the UVa academic community. He is a Hereford Fellow, sharing his experiences with members of the residential college.
Gillen’s community work extends past educational institutions to the citizenry at large as well. While he enjoys when his players hit buzzer-beaters to win the game, he also enjoys the “bell-beaters”-those people who toss money into the familiar red collection pots for the Salvation Army. Ringing the bell heard during the winter holiday period, Gillen once again demonstrated his commitment to the Central Virginia community with his work for the organization.
“It hasn’t been too cold this winter so far, so it’s been good,” said Gillen. “But it is good for me to get out there and support them.”
Gillen has also worked with the Habitat for Humanity program, an organization that facilitates the building of basic, decent housing with the help of homeowner-partner families. His presence at meetings and fundraisers has helped the Greater Charlottesville chapter reach hundreds of people.
Gillen’s work in the community is noticed and appreciated by his players. Captain Todd Billet said, “In the preseason and even during the season, we visited the Kluge Children’s Medical Center. Later in the year we participated in the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk. Coach Gillen says that there is an element of learning about life experiences through community service. He wants to give his players a taste of that and hopefully learn from it. It’s to show players that there is something beyond basketball and something beyond what you are doing. It helps you build character and some positive characteristics when you move beyond college.”
Gillen’s team has accompanied him to some events, including the aforementioned Alzheimer’s Memory Walk, an event designed to promote awareness and develop support for Alzheimer’s disease research.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my career and my life overall,” said Gillen. “I have an opportunity to ‘throw some bread back on the pond’, as they say. It’s great to be involved.”
The citizens of Charlottesville and the surrounding area are also fortunate that Gillen stands as a pillar in the community. His tireless work both on and off the court demonstrate not only the commitment that the Virginia Athletics Department has overall but also Gillen’s own personal dedication to his fellow citizens.