WAVY TV Sports Director Among Five Selected To CIAA Hall Of Fame
Nation's oldest black athletic organization holds induction ceremony on March 4
Wavy-TV sports director Bruce Rader is among five honorees selected for induction to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Hall of Fame. The CIAA is an athletic conference consisting of twelve historically African American institutions of higher education and is entering its eighty-sixth year of athletic competition. The 2005 class includes former pro football star Ernie Warlick, former college basketball player William “Pony” Wilson, former Olympic track coach Phyllis Laverne Sweat, and longtime NBA great Charles Oakley. The group will be officially enshrined Friday morning, March 4, in Raleigh, N.C., as one of the activities of the CIAA Basketball Tournament, which will be broadcast on ESPN.
"I am extremely honored to be inducted into the John B. McLendon CIAA Hall of Fame, an organization dear to my heart over the past 25 years," stated Rader. "Under the guidance of Commissioner Leon G. Kerry, the CIAA has become one of the most respected conferences in the nation. Its history and achievements are the envy of its peers. To be deemed worthy of recognition by the CIAA board of directors has to rank with my very proudest achievements."
Bruce Rader has been a longtime supporter of the CIAA. He pioneered live television coverage of CIAA basketball games in the 1980’s and in recent years has served as host of the nationally televised CIAA Basketball Tournament.
Hampton University President William R. Harvey presented Bruce with "The Presidential Award for Outstanding Citizenship", recognizing him for virtues of decency, dignity, and human rights. Bruce Rader Charities has provided hundreds of area young people in Virginia the opportunity to attend local sporting events. The Foundation also helped organize the Peninsula All-Star Football Camp featuring top stars from the National Football League. Bruce Rader Charities www.bruceradercharities.com has also supported the Union Mission, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Mothers Inc., and other outstanding organizations. In both 1996, and 2002 Bruce was selected to carry the Olympic Torch. In 1996, he carried the torch through Charlottesville, Virginia, during its worldwide trip to the Atlanta Games. In 2002 he carried the torch in Arlington, Virginia in the shadow of the Pentagon.
