Scholarship Honors Hemory of Two Former Student Athletes
In the early morning hours of Feb. 18, 1969, a train derailed on the west side of Crete, striking a tank car of anhydrous ammonia. Doane students Ron and Ethelene Hatchett and infant daughter, Gloria, were among the residents who tried to escape the deadly gas that blanketed the area.
Ron and his daughter did not survive. The tragedy saddened the entire campus, recalled 1970 graduate James “J.B.” Beatty. Only one good thing came of such a loss, he said, and that was the way it brought students together, particularly the students of color who rallied around Ethelene as she finished her degree. It made the students a family, Beatty said, one that remains close nearly 40 years later.
A new scholarship for students of color will symbolize that feeling of family and support, while also honoring the memory of Ron Hatchett and fellow standout student from that era, Les Grant ’69, who died in January of 2006.
James and Earlene ’71 Beatty of Omaha established the Les Grant-Ron Hatchett Memorial Scholarship to give other students of color the chance to graduate from Doane. They will match the amount raised for the scholarship.
Beatty said he wanted other students to have the opportunity to have their own Doane experience, one he hopes matches his own. “Despite the trials and tribulations we all experienced in those years, Doane was just a very special place, one that played a big role in our adult years, too.” He also hopes the scholarship students become the kind of student Grant and Hatchett embodied.
When Beatty looks back at his college years, both faces come to mind. He sees Grant, a history major, member of Sigma Phi Theta and an outstanding basketball player respected on and off the court. Grant earned Doane’s highest athletic awards—the Honor D award and a spot in the Athletic Hall of Fame—and was a record-holder in scoring who was named to the All-Nebraska College Team and to the NAIA All-District team for three years.
“Les was the heart and soul and conscience of the students,” recalled Beatty, who was at Grant’s side as he succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2006. In college, when they needed a ride to their common hometown of Chicago, it was Grant who made sure everyone had one, Beatty recalled. They could count on him to play practical jokes, yet motivate them in athletic competitions, encouraging them to do better than the best they thought they could.
Grant spent more than 20 years in insurance and sales industries. He led Doane’s Rocky Mountain alumni chapter and coached youth basketball and soccer.
Hatchett was the same type of leader in his own right, Beatty said, and an example of how to balance student life, family and athletics. Hatchett came to Doane from Chicago, a graduate of John Marshall High School and a member of its football team. He became a starting tackle at Doane and was also an active member in the AAFRO organization. His death in 1969 was a tragic moment in Crete and Doane’s history.
Yet fellow students remember the bonds that formed as they helped his widow complete her degree at Doane and raise her family. Ethelene was pregnant with the couple’s second child when Hatchett died. “We rallied around Ethelene,” he said. “Helped her babysit so she could go to class, ran errands for her, took her back and forth to Lincoln.”
Many of the students—black and white—maintained lifelong relationships, with Grant making sure they stayed in touch. At many of their gatherings, Beatty said, the conversation turned to the role Doane played in shaping their adult lives.
James Beatty is the founder and president of NCS International, an internationally-known economic development and corporate site selection fi rm based in Omaha. Earlene retired from U.S. West, where she was involved in real estate.
Other donors of the new scholarship include members of Hatchett and Grant’s families and the Sigma Phi Theta social fraternity.
The scholarship will be available to students once funds reach the $25,000 minimum for endowed scholarships, tentatively in the 2007-08 academic year. Requirements and amounts for the scholarship will be set once fundraising is complete.
President Jonathan Brand called the scholarship an important piece in Doane’s long history as an institution committed to diversity. “Doane wants to be accessible to all. We also know that our students all benefit when they are exposed to others who have different world views. This scholarship is an important piece in our efforts,” he said.
About the Beattys:
James Beatty was a decorated track athlete at Doane who competed in the 440 and mile relay. He also was a member of Sigma Phi Theta fraternity. He met his future wife, Earlene, originally of St. Louis, at Doane.