"It's certainly not something that we look back on with a lot of pride," Coast Guard Academy Athletic Director Dan Rose said.
It's a story of redemption after the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) refused to play a basketball team against a competitor with a first generation African-American on their team.
"Back in 1932, my father happened to be a 19-year-old first generation African-American at the University of Connecticut, actually Connecticut State at the time. He was the only African-American on campus. In 1934, UConn went to the play the Coast Guard," Harrison Brooks Fitch Jr. said of his father, Harrison "Honey" Fitch.
In 1934, when UConn went to play the Coast Guard, they were one of a few schools at the time that refused to play a team that had an African-American player, according to Athletic Director Dan Rose.
After the incident, Fitch Jr. said the UConn student body protested and voted to have the USCGA athletic director and coach removed.
His teammates rallied around him at a level that was exemplary for any time, particularly 1934.
Harrison Brooks Fitch Jr.
When UConn decided to honor Honey Fitch and put him into their Ring of Honor, it was an opportunity for their superintendent, Admiral Bill Kelly, to reach out to the family and apologize for what happened that day.
Fitch Jr. said he was asked to visit the Coast Guard Academy in 2021 to see firsthand how they've grown since that day.
"It just kind of snowballed in a really good way and a really collaborative way on what can we do together," Rose said.
In the wake of this infamous incident, it was an opportunity for USCGA to partner with the Harrison Fitch Leadership Fund, which Brooks started to honor the legacy of his father’s leadership skills.
To this day, the fund has impacted over 2,700 students and cadets—showing them how to lead and mentor others.
I am trying as best I can to rise to his level. What he showed in the 1930s was truly exemplary. The level of dignity, and character, and leadership - that's what I'm trying to get forward.
Harrison Brooks Fitch Jr.
"We came up with this leadership summit. We had our Institute for Leadership come in and do some programming," Rose said.
Fitch Jr. also began working with the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and together they’ve been able to place 70 students in mentorships with hall of famers.
"This organization, this institution is all about inspiration," Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Vice President of Philanthropy Scott Zuffelato said.
Zuffelato said Harrison "Honey" Fitch has an incredibly inspiring story.
"With the impact was providing an aspirational and inspirational model for young people to let them see that they can achieve greatness," Fitch Jr. said. "We're talking about Hall of Fame here."
The Naismith Basketball of Fame works with Fitch Jr. to involve youth groups, particularly in their enshrinement weekend each year.
"We have worked with the Hall of Fame for about 11 years," Fitch Jr. said. "It's been an outstanding relationship."
Honoring "Honey" Fitch
USCGA continues to honor Honey Fitch in their own way.
"Coast Guard played Springfield College and my wife and I were able to attend that," Fitch Jr. said. "The Coast Guard Academy came out with uniforms with Fitch on the back and I can tell you that it was very powerful to us."
"Every time we wear the uniform, an opposing player, coach, fan [asks] why do you have Fitch on the back of your uniform?" Coast Guard Academy men's basketball head coach Kevin Jaskiewicz said.
Those uniforms have history, and the Academy has a story to tell.
"One of my players said 'ask that guy, he will be able to tell you' and Mr. Fitch said 'I'll go over and I'll go talk to them about it,'" Jaskiewicz said. "So, it's a way of continuing the conversation."
"If Harrison Fitch was here today, I hope that he would be proud and he would feel welcome," Rose said.
It didn't feel inclusive on that day, right? I would hope that he would feel a sense of validation. That's what sports is about, right? Sports has always been a foundation for inclusion.
Kevin Jaskiewicz
