American University Annual Report 2016-2017

ETIQUETTE DINNER PREPARES ATHLETES FOR LIFE
Orin R. Smith had an aptitude for aphorisms, like “We never
really grow up; we only learn how to act in public.” To honor
the legacy of her late husband, Stephanie Bennett-Smith
made a $500,000 gift to endow an annual Orin R. Smith Life
Skills Etiquette Dinner for student-athletes. The eponymous
capstone event reflects the couple’s interest in AU’s life skills
curriculum, part of the Leadership Development Series of the
Student-Athlete Support Program, a Patriot League initiative.
No Miss Manners-type training, this: the curriculum reinforces
and builds on the values ingrained by athletic discipline and
competitive training.
“We strive to create an environment where athletes achieve
their full potential on and off the court,” said athletics director
Billy Walker. “We celebrate the responsibility, initiative, integrity,
and respect that players bring to all they do through their
experience as student-athletes. The Orin R. Smith Life Skills
Etiquette Dinner is an important part of extending those
important attributes built through athletics.”
Bennett-Smith has dedicated her career to students and
education. She is a member of AU’s Board of Trustees and
president emerita of Centenary College in New Jersey.
“Orin and I always looked at the opportunity in front of us,
not as paying backwards,” Bennett-Smith told students at the
April dinner. “What was really important was to pay forward, and
we’re paying forward with you all. You are the future—and doing
what we can to help you achieve that future is perhaps the most
important thing we could do.”
In expressing his gratitude, Walker said, “The impact of your
generous gift will be felt through the years as these studentathletes,
and those who come after, take the valuable lessons
learned in this life skills program and apply them to a lifetime of
leadership and service.”
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