Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame Class oF 2023

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• 2-time All-American (2002 second-team, 2003 first-team)
• 4-time All-Region (2000 second-team, 2001, 2003, 2003 first-team)
• 3-time All-Ivy League first-team (2001, 2002, 2003)
• Second in program history in career assists (26)
• 2-year team captain (2002, 2003)
• 4-year letterwinner
• CFHCA Academic All-American (2000)
• NFHCA Academic Squad (2003)
• Academic All-Ivy League (2004)

Remembering Harvard Athletics

Thank you so much to the Harvard Varsity Club for this incredible honor. It’s really humbling to be here amongst this extremely accomplished group. There are many people to thank, including all of my teammates, coaches, and supporters along the way. In particular, I’d like to thank my parents who are here tonight. As immigrants, many sports were foreign to them, particularly field hockey. But they supported my desire to play nonetheless, driving me to and from practice or camp. They attended almost every single game, even though it meant waking up at 3AM to drive up from Baltimore, only to head back at 3PM after our post-game tailgate was over. Thanks to you both for your sacrifice and unending support.

Another big thank you is to Coach Sue Caples, who took a chance on a nerdy teen with limited experience. Without you believing in my potential, I wouldn’t have had the chance to play at a high level with such a great group of teammates. You really cared about all of us as student-athletes and people, and I think the successes of your coachees is a real testament to that. I have the fondest memories of practices, games, road trips, and friendships, so thank you for creating the opportunity and fostering it.

A few teammates are here tonight, including Jen McDavitt, another inductee - congrats Jen, and her sister Kate Urquhart, hall of fame class of 2019. I owe a huge part of any success to my teammates. I remember showing up to day 1 of preseason as a freshman. The level of skill and talent was incredible – I was definitely not in Kansas anymore. The only thing I could do to not embarrass myself was to tough it out on the beep test and try to be the last one standing. But from then on, every practice I learned from them including new skills and toughness. I always thought I was a super-competitive person – that’s until I met Kate and learned a whole new level of wanting to win. Thanks to you all for teaching me so much and for the lifelong friendships.

This is the first time I’ve been back to Boston in almost 10 years – it’s wild to have so many formative memories here. Thinking back on my time as a student-athlete, I didn’t realize at the time how truly special it is. To dedicate yourself to a sport and team while juggling school and other extracurriculars is a lot to ask of an 18 year old; in many ways you have to grow up fast. But it didn’t feel that way because we were having so much fun doing what we loved. Learning to work together with 20 other young adults can also be a big ask; but a shared love of sport, common goal to grow and win, and a mutual respect made it easy. In my current life as a parent and surgeon, a lot of what I learned in my time at Harvard makes it all doable. Home and family life is teamwork, understanding and drawing on each other’s strengths, helping others when they need it. People often say surgery is a team sport, as the outcome is best if we all work together, prepare, and communicate. This is all second nature with everything learned through athletics. Looking back on my time at Harvard, I wish I could have told my younger self really just how special that time was and how much it shaped me. I’m grateful for all of those opportunities and experiences. Thank you again HVC for this honor and congratulations to all of the other inductees.

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• 4-time first team All-American (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
• 4-time first team All-Ivy (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
• NCAA Singles Finalist (2003)
• Doubles National Champion (2006)
• 2-time team MVP (2003, 2004)
• 4-year letterwinner
• Team captain (2006)
• 3-time Ivy League Champion

Remembering Harvard Athletics

I want to congratulate all the other inductees and thank Bob Glatz, the Varsity Club, the Committee, Erin McDermott, Bob Scalise, and coach Baj and Mo. I am humbled to be included as part of this list of student athletes. Playing squash at Harvard and competing for the University was truly one of the highlights of my life. And this honor is particularly special.

This is an emotional induction for me. I would not be here without my Dad who unfortunately passed away two years ago. He was the most enthusiastic supporter of Harvard athletics. So much so that at the Harvard Squash senior night in 2006 the coaches gave my father an honorary Assistant Coach title – an honor which he took seriously. He introduced me to squash, he never missed one of my matches. He traveled all around the world to watch me play. He would chart all of my matches to help me figure out how I could improve and exploit a weakness in my opponent’s game. My parents were instrumental in my athletic journey which landed me at Harvard. They made two critical decisions that stand out to me:

First, taking me to train with Peter Briggs – another Harvard squash Hall of Famer – who planted the Harvard squash seed in my brain as an eight-year-old. He instilled in me the work ethic, focus, determination that the sport required but also the significance of sportsmanship and respect for an opponent. Much of Peter’s own perspective on the game came from his time at Harvard under the tutelage of Jack Barnaby.

Second, sending me to train in England for four consecutive summers in my early teens where I learned the skills and grittiness I needed to play at a high level. It hardened me to competition – in a good way.

While squash taught me so much, what I value most is the time it let me spend with my parents and my sister. As a father of two young boys I hope I can live up to the same standard my parents set for me. Fortunately, I have an incredible wife Addie who has ensured that we stay on the right path as parents.

While we played different sports, we all enjoyed the support system and platform that Harvard athletics provided. It’s an incredible institution – that demands excellence but rewards effort. And strikes the right balance in the development of a well-rounded person.

Harvard squash within that has a lengthy history and I feel fortunate to have been able to be a small part of it. The squash team I was on in the early 2000s was an eclectic group, comprised of players from all around the world. The level of play was high – and players like Siddarth Suchde, James Bullock, Ilan Oren all made me a better athlete and competitor. I have them to thank for this as well.

Despite the 17-year gap since my last match at Harvard, I still rely on the learnings that playing college athletics at Harvard provided. What I miss most is the camaraderie that accompanied team training and travel – and the community that existed within the athletes at Harvard. It’s a tremendous honor to be inducted and I want say thank you again and congratulations to all the other inductees. I couldn’t be prouder.

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey (2007)
• First team All-American (2007)
• 2-time second team All-American (2003, 2005)
• 3-time first team All-ECAC (2003, 2005, 2007)
• Ivy Rookie of the Year (2003)
• Ivy Player of the Year (2007)
• Ranks 1st in career assists (184), 6th in career goals (88), and 3rd in career points (284)
• 4-year letterwinner

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• 9-time All-American in the 500 free, 1,650 free, 800 free relay, and 400 medley relay
• 15-time Ivy League champion in the 500 free, 1,000 free, 1,650 free, and 800 free relay
• 16-time All-Ivy League honoree
• Only student-athlete in Ivy League history to win 4 conference championships in the 500 free and 1,000 free
• Holds the Harvard record in the 1,650 free, and ranks 2nd in the 1,000 free and 3rd in the 500 free
• 4-year letterwinner
• Team captain (2005)

Remembering Harvard Athletics

Good evening, everyone. It’s really exciting to be back in Boston and at the Harvard Club to see old friends and teammates. I’m currently living in Singapore, and unfortunately, I just don’t get to come back to the states as often as I’d like, so it’s especially wonderful to be here with friends and family who have travelled from all over to be here tonight.

Thank you very much to the Harvard Varsity Club and everyone who helped organize tonight’s event. And congratulations to all of tonight’s inductees. I’ve loved listening to and reading about all of your incredible achievements. It’s really inspiring, so congratulations to you, your teams, and your families.

As I was walking around Cambridge, the Charles, and the Yard earlier this morning, I was thinking about my very first trip to Harvard as a recruit during Halloween weekend in 1999. By this point in the year, I had already visited a number of universities, so I had some idea of what to expect, but of course, as a 17-year-old senior in high school, I was still really excited - and a bit anxious - about my very first Harvard visit. And, while there are countless reasons to come to Harvard, as a student-athlete, among the many features that stood out to me that weekend was the team’s incredible camaraderie, academic & athletic ambitions, and many traditions. It was so clear to me on my 4-hour car ride back to New Jersey that Sunday morning that I desperately wanted to be part of the Harvard Men’s Swimming and Diving program.

To this day – 24 years later – that’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I have so many rich memories while on the team including winning the Ivy League Championships just barely against Princeton, competing against the best swimmers in the world at NCAAs with Dan Shevchik and Dave Cromwell, and representing Team USA internationally with Harvard’s Tim Murphy as one of the USA coaches. Without a doubt, many of the learnings from my Harvard Swim Team experiences – both triumphs and failures – have had an incredibly positive impact on my life and career since graduation, and I’m truly grateful for the opportunity.

I need to thank the Harvard Swim coaches – Tim Murphy, Sean Schimmel, and Kevin Tyrell – for their guidance, persistence, and patience. As a long-distance swimmer, I needed every bit of motivation to push me through very long workouts and challenging Saturday morning swims. As Head Coach, Tim was exceptional at providing tough encouragement and motivation with just the right amount of humor to get me through the long swimming sets. Unfortunately, Coach Murphy was unable to be here tonight, but he is absent for fantastic reason as he is in Pennsylvania being inducted into the International Swim Coaches Association Hall of Fame. It’s an extremely well-deserved honor and a testament to his leadership, contribution to, and legacy with the Harvard Swimming & Diving program.

Lastly, I of course, wouldn’t be standing here without my mom and dad. It takes a special person to regularly wake a teenager up at 4:40 on a dark and freezing winter morning, so they make their 5:15am workouts on time and then can spend 3-day weekends in a hot and humid aquatics center while waiting for their son to swim a 16-minute race. I’m extremely grateful to have had their support and dedication growing up so that I could make many of my dreams come true.

Thank you.

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• AP first-team All-American (1985)
• AP honorable mention All-American (1984)
• 2-time first team All-Ivy (1984, 1985)
• 2-year letterwinner
• Team MVP (1985)
• Tied 1st for interceptions in a season (8)
• Also earned a Major H in baseball

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• 7-time All-American in the 200 backstroke, 100 backstroke, 400 medley relay, and 800 freestyle relay
• Ivy League champion in 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, and 40 medley
• At the time set both the Harvard 100 and 200 backstroke records in 2006
• 4-year letterwinner
• Team captain (2005)

Remembering Harvard Athletics

A sincere thank you to the Harvard Varsity club. Not just for the honor, not just for the free meal, but also giving me the gift of perspective.

But, before I get there, please let me continue the long tradition of using acceptance speeches as an excuse for telling a long, meandering origins story. My Harvard career started with a recruiting trip. To board the plane out East, I put on my finest pair of jean shorts, velcro’ed my new Nike ACG sandals over a lightly worn pair of Kirkland tube socks, draped my favorite puka shell necklace around my neck, and spit shined my earrings to a sparkle. Despite this packaging, somehow (somehow) both Harvard admissions and the swim team gave that 17 year old Montana boy a shot.

Blessed with a few options for school, I remember deciding on Harvard because I had a lot of questions, and I wanted answers. Harvard seemed like the right place to find them.

In retrospect, the biggest question was “how good am I?” The first answer came quickly. Within about a week of classes, I realized I’m indeed not the smartest person in the world. Thank you Expos. Humiliating, but thank you for the clarity.

But, what about swimming—just how good was I? It took longer, but by graduation Harvard had provided an initial answer: I was good enough to move down to the University of Texas and train for the Olympic Trials with the Olympic coach, gold medalists, and world record holders. Training with those people led to often out-training them, which eventually led to beating them. Looking back, I did get the answer I wanted: on any given day, I could beat anyone in the world. Unfortunately, on one crucial summer day in 2008, I didn’t get it done. And, in retrospect, that one day has had an outsized voice in the narrative of my athletic career.

Which brings me back to perspective. Looking back, I was—like most athletes, I suspect—not very good at taking stock of the moment. Every year from about the age of 10, I would start the season with a goal. If I achieved it, then by the following season that previous goal seemed too small, even “below my level.” Winning city meets meant state meets were what mattered. State championships became regional championships, became national championships, became international, became Top 10 world rankings, became…

Then, poof. It’s all over.

You move on. You find a job. If you’re lucky, you’re not only blessed to keep the unreal family and friends you had, but you add a partner that makes you feel a level of fulfillment previously uncontemplated. You become too busy, too sleep deprived, but also too full (in the best sense of the word) to look back on your athletic career.

(This is wrapping up, I promise)

Back to perspective. I just can’t thank the Harvard Varsity Club enough for gifting me such a fun opportunity to look back at my career. I haven’t thought of swimming as much as I should, given its outsized role in creating me. So many memories are bubbling up. So many wonderful people.

I’d also like to thank the Varsity Club for locking my family and closest friends in a room, forcing them to listen to me telling them how great I am. To those family, friends, and coaches (too many to mention, but I will call out Jim Hawbaker, Dave Berkoff ’88, and Tim Murphy): I cannot express how grateful I am for you…but I’ll try tonight at the Kong. Speaking of, let’s please raise a glass to TC. He would’ve loved this.

Thank you. I’m deeply honored.

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• 2-time first team All-American (2004, 2005)
• Honorable mention all-american (2003)
• Ivy League Rookie of the Year (2003)
• Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American (2003)
• 2-time first team All-Ivy/EIBL (2004, 2005)
• Honorable mention All-Ivy/EIBL (2003)
• Holds record for most homeruns hit in a game, single-season homeruns, and career homeruns

Remembering Harvard Athletics

Thank you to the Harvard Varsity Club and the Selection Committee for this honor, it is humbling to enter the Hall of Fame in the company of such accomplished athletes. And more humbling still to join Pete Varney, Ben Crockett, Trey Hendricks, Schuyler Mann, and the thirty-nine other baseball players inducted into the Hall of Fame over the hundred and fifty-eight year history of Crimson Baseball. It is an honor to join your ranks. I wish I could say this was the first time in a while I’m getting the opportunity to relive some of the glory days, but as my son will tell you, I am constantly stealing his reps and swings during our Milton National little league practices – I cannot imagine any of my former teammates are surprised.

I was sixteen years old, when I decided I wanted to go to Harvard. This was out-of-left-field…like, monster seats or citgo sign left field…especially from a kid who, up until that point, wasn't particularly prone to strategic thought or hadn’t yet shown more than a flash of interest in education. But my path to Harvard was paved by the late, great Joe Walsh.

What happened was I met Joe at a fall-ball camp at the beginning of my junior year in high school. He stalked around the field with his burning eyes, those jowls, his boxer’s shoulders and cyclist’s chicken legs...all wildly animated by his sandlot smile…I couldn’t take my eyes off the guy. This streetfighter was the Harvard coach? He spoke to us high school kids at the end of one session, delivering the first of what I would come to recognize as his famous speeches. Many in this room know that Duece had a bull-dog / hot-dog / puppy-dog ranking criteria for his recruits - and he described in that Walshian, staccato tone what each type of dog was. And I was in. All in. I was going to be one of his bull-dogs (like the dragon slayer Frankie Hogan, or Ralphy, or Hal, or Forst, or Major, or Birty, or Larocque). He always told the story of recruiting me a bit differently though, his first impression was: ‘hot-dog’ aftering seeing me all geared up with eye black, an arm sleeve, puka shells, upside-down oaks, and god knows what else those late 90s/early 2000s big leaguers were wearing; his second impression was: ‘puppy-dog’ when he saw on the scouting report that I was an ISL prep school kid from the Back Bay…but I got the check in the ‘bull-dog’ column and my name onto that all-powerful recruiting list when he learned about my Bronx bred back-alley stickball champion father and my St. Ann’s-Neponset Ave parish, OFD mother (that’s “originally from Dorchester” for the uninitiated).

In the eighteen or so months that followed, a lot happened. It ended with an acceptance letter. But in between, Mac logged thousands of phone calls to (i) the baseball office — which Joe quickly started screening to Matt Hyde, (ii) to the admissions office — torturing Fitzy’s assistant and admissions officers, (iii) and to Billy Cleary who couldn’t quite figure out how old Winthrop-by-the-Sea friend Mr. McLaughlin…the Commander…got his number. I got my grades up, took care of business on the standardized tests, and kept hitting baseballs…but without Duece and Grinch and Baby Craig, forget the baseball stuff we're here for, because without them laying it on the line for me I don’t get in. I don’t meet my roommates or teammates. I don’t meet the most impressive person on this earth and marry her. A small handful of people who believed in me catalyzed a life that I shudder to imagine any different. Thank you.

We’re rolling now so let’s start taking care of business:

Thank you to all the coaches and teachers and all those who taught me before I even knew I was being taught...I think specifically about that giant plaque in Fisk Hall that demands "Our Best Today, Better Tomorrow." It is funny how my elementary school's motto imprinted itself on my DNA without my knowledge. Funny also that, after an almost thirty-year hiatus, a couple of my best friends from those days are now a part of my day-to-day life. It’s amazing how influential is the company you keep, even at such a young age. I am so very grateful for the opportunity to see Mr. Vincent frequently and to think about Dexter-Southfield’s motto almost daily as I watch my kids eating breakfast and watching sportscenter in their school uniforms each morning before hustling to get on the bus.

Thank you to my high school coach Uncle Ricky for blindly putting me on your club team when I was fourteen years old because HennDog said I was a good ballplayer; to Knuckles for being the very first one who taught me belief in my bat and arm - I have a bowl of the baseballs on display in Milton that you presented to me at the end of each offseason to commemorate the early morning, winter hitting sessions when the world was still asleep and the late night workouts when everyone else had gone home; to Eddie Bourgeois my first ever BBN coach and guardian angel; to Laurie, Jesse, TButt, McGann, Kathy, OB, C-A and Loftus and the many others from the BBN athletic staff: thank you for teaching me the foundation of this game we love so much at the Buckydome and for showing me what it means “to compete” while playing alongside you all as teammates for the Gately Ram at Morelli Field (and protecting me during the frequent dugout clearing…discussions with the Andre Chiefs and Lexington Blue Sox - I still don’t understand what some of those trash talking words meant…or at least I hope I don’t understand).

Thank you to Mr. O'Donnell, Dean Fitzsimmons, Billy Cleary, and all the coaches, trainers, administrators, and operations folks at Harvard (Deuce, Grinch, Coach D, Chettie, Artie, Alex, Emmo, G-Baby, Quiqs, Stacie, TK, Chuckles, Lister, Gibson…there are so many more): it was an honor to wear the Shield and represent you all. I made it into the record book during my three years at O'Donnell Field but nothing is more sacred to me than the unofficial records set during late nights and early mornings with you, Matty — no baseball player can take hundreds of thousands of swings and ground balls without a counterpart willing to match that energy and effort…and you did it day in and day out. I will treasure those moments of development and breakthrough that only we saw.

Coach Decker, thank you for welcoming me back into the program over the past few years. You are carrying on the traditions of Harvard baseball in a way that would make your predecessor proud and I wish you and the team unparalleled success.

Thank you to my incredible classmates: my Eliot House roommates Mackey, Joe, and Driscoll; my baseball teammates Frank, MoBrown, Byrnesy, Lance, Duke, and Wes; the Harvard/Milton crews Kelley & Dante Balestracci, Lindsay & Pete Scully, Anders & Alisha Johnson; the Harvard/Osterville families: Caroline and Pat Hayes, Natalie and Nate Thorne, KJ and Brian McCafferty, Liz and Mike Fish, and, of course, Laura and Danny Shribman...and there are so many of you that impacted me over the three years (plus the two more falls) in the Square and on the River. It is probably an understatement to say that I was maniacally focused on baseball in those days, thus…not much happened with me or to me off the field, but you all never held it against me. Instead we have found a way back into each other's lives and I am so grateful to have the next fifty-or-so years to make memories together and with our families.

Thank you to my in-laws, TK and Annie-K: Everyone reading this essay should know that you still haven’t recovered from the shock of first meeting your pickup truck driving, future son-in-law. I know you had other expectations when you sent Allie off to that school in Cambridge…well that’s fair enough, because I bet my folks thought the same thing when I introduced them to a cop’s daughter from Belmont! I’ll always appreciate the perfectly cooked steaks from the electric Webber grill on the deck of the condo with a bucket of KFC on the side. I hope I can be as patient with my daughters’ future husbands as you both were with me.

To my parents: Gary and Renee, you two were a far cry from the typical youth sports parents of the day – and today; and the boys and I ended up the better for it. You let me lead you to the athletic fields and off the fields you were always there to fuel me up with a hotdog egg and cheese sandwich (with spicy brown mustard??) or a needed recharge on Squam or at Waterville. Thank you for rarely vetoing the yearly orders from Baseball Express; for sewing those stretchy elastic bands into my baseball pants so they would stay down like the big leaguers; thank you for the innumerable, hours-long car rides to unnamed fields during which we talked tirelessly about baseball situations…or didn’t talk about baseball at all and you told me stories about Ulysses; thank you for your never-ending love and support.

Thank you to my brothers: from those first days on the Fox Run pasture and Wells Field and the Boston Common, we were an infield ready to travel. Josh at first doing his best Big Hurt impression. Sev at second spinning double plays despite wanting to be in center like Kenny Lofton. And Alex at the hot corner like Chipper, playing the D. You guys pushed me more than you know. You were always watching, and I always wanted to exceed your expectations. I am looking forward to another lifetime of inside jokes that we can share with our next generation…lookin at you, my nephew Coley Fish. Never forget to “choose wisely” and that “skiing is the easy part.” I love you guys…“means a lot.”

And here’s where we get real:

To my children: Gavin Galt, Delaney Siobhan, and Madaket Ann, your mother and I dreamed and schemed and talked about you three often in the Eliot and Winthrop House Dorms during the quiet times between games and practices and classes; you three were always our favorite topic.

Gav – my firstborn, my trailblazer; it was you who reminded me how much I love this game; I am so proud of who you are and thrilled at the prospect of what you have within you to become…but more than anything I look forward to just being father and son, chasing bluefin off Nantucket or chatting on the King Pine quad or simply cooking up some great steaks together.

Dellie – thank heaven for little girls like you, my darling daughter; you awoke the fire in me again when I first saw your beautiful little face and learned what it was to be a girl-dad. You are sweet as Tupelo Honey.

Maddie – my feisty and willful baby-girl; wild and beautiful and powerful like the beach you were named after, you are the perfect completion to our family. Right up to the moon and back, little blond hare.

It is the honor and pleasure of my life to be called ‘dad’ by you kids. I got to be a Harvard baseball player for three years…I get to be your dad for my entire life…there isn’t a luckier guy on this earth.

But this is a sports celebration so, here’s the sports message: Never forget that the metaphor is real. Elite effort and attitude, being a fierce competitor and great teammate, chasing your goals and, once reached, reaching higher still. All the things most important between the lines are even more important outside them.

So let’s finish up… but it can’t, however, be all good news and happy words tonight. A lot of the people I have recognized and thanked tonight share a common guilt…you all thought the very same thing when you heard the first rumors of a tall, blonde girl that barged into my life just before the season started sophomore year. You all thought:

“Who the hell is he smiling at down the first base line?”

“Zak is letting his girlfriend pick his walkup music?”

“Why does this kid utterly obsessed with the number 3 have a small 17 sharpied on his glove?”

“After a promising Freshman year, it looks like it’s the beginning of the end for Zak!”

Well…you were all wrong (except Mackey!…Mackey knew!). Alzey, you had to literally kick your way into my life in front of the Barker Center…and Allison…my best friend…my wife…and you’ve been kicking my butt ever since. This entire essay could be filled with my words for you, but some things are just too sacred to share with the rest of the world. What I will say is that you and I have been together now longer than we haven’t, and you continue to inspire me every single day. And look at what we’ve accomplished. Look at what we have made. Let’s never stop. I love you.

Thank you again to the Varsity Club for this tremendous distinction, congratulations to my fellow inductees, and forever thank you to Harvard University for trusting me to live up to the expectations of being a Harvard student...I will always hold up my end of the bargain.

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• All-American in cross country (1986)
• St Harvard records in the 5,000 meter indoors, and the 5,000 and 10,000 meter outdoors
• Ivy League Champion in the 5,000 (1987)
• Placed 5th at the 1986 NCAA Championships, top finish ever by a Harvard athlete at that point
• 4-year letterwinner in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track
• Second team Academic All-American
• Competed at the US Olympic Trials three times (1984, 1988, and 1992)

Remembering Harvard Athletics

I want to thank the Varsity Club and the Hall of Fame Selection Committee for this honor. It is particularly meaningful to have so many members of my family here with me. My wife Jody Dushay, my three daughters, Sivan, Annika, and Zoe. Josh Schulman, Sivan’s husband (my son in law!), Ben Huffman, Annika’s fiancé, my mother, Mary, and my father-in-law, Fred Dushay.

Harvard Track and Field and Harvard Athletics is central to who I am and has been a consistent presence in my life for forty years; first as an athlete on the Cross Country and Track teams, then as a member of the Faculty Standing Committee on Athletics for nearly 20 years, and a couple decades as a faculty fellow to the Track and Field Team. Those experiences have taught me life skills, something we economists like to call building human capital, that have helped me in my career and in life and have taken me farther than I could have ever imagined.

I was the first student from my school in rural Southern Illinois to attend an Ivy League college. I had actually never been on an airplane until the Cross Country team flew to NCAA regionals my freshman year. I can honestly say that Harvard Track and Field has shaped me as a person as well as a family. Not only did I meet my wife, Jody, on the Harvard Track team, but my daughter Annika met her fiancé, Ben, on the Harvard Track team. Who needs Hinge when you have Harvard Athletics?

If you will allow me a moment, I would briefly like to connect two topics this evening: the role of athletics in elite colleges and my own experience while at Harvard College. Recently, the admissions process at elite colleges has come under fire. As it relates to Harvard Athletics, the leg up that recruited athletes get in the admissions process has been put under the microscope. But we all know that the motto of Harvard Athletics--Education through Athletics -- rings true. We learn things on the field, in practice, in our time competing that help us later in life. Things like goal setting, teamwork, dealing with failure, that help us when we leave Harvard. In a recent academic paper, I gathered data on historical varsity athletes in the Ivy League, 40,000 athletes going back to the 1970s. I then looked at the careers of athletes and non-athletes who graduate from these schools. We have data on over 400,000 Ivy graduates over their entire careers and we found that athletes do in fact do better in their careers. Controlling for whatever you want to control for, they earn more in terms of salary, achieve higher seniority in their firms, and are more likely to attain C-suite leadership positions. This is despite the fact that athletes tend to ever so slightly underperform academically while in school. Participation in intercollegiate varsity athletics teaches things that you can’t learn in the classroom.

I think this is illustrated poignantly in the most memorable experience during my time as a Harvard athlete. It wasn’t any HEPS championship, or any trip to the NCAA championships, or All-American honors. It wasn’t even the spring break training trips to Houston or traveling to England to compete in the Harvard-Yale vs. Oxford-Cambridge dual meet in Track.

During my junior year, I was honored to be selected to represent the US at the World University Games in Kobe, Japan. That meant training over the summer for the competition which took place in August. I lived with four Harvard track teammates that summer in Somerville (before it was hip); Steve Pinney, John Perkins, Andy Gerkin, and Jim MacDonald. We had an amazing summer of trips to Walden Pond, Crane’s Beach, and just hanging out. My last tune-up race before the Games was in New Hampshire and Andy Gerkin came to compete with me. My parents, Steve and Mary, had driven all the way from St. Louis to watch. Now my father had been the inspiration to my participation in athletics. He would take me to professional sporting events in St. Louis, encourage me to join my school’s sports teams, and had become a runner himself after my pursuit of the sport. The race went well and after the race my father joined me for an easy cool-down run. When we got back from the cooldown, my father said he felt dizzy and collapsed in front of me. He had had a massive heart attack and passed away instantly.

Needless to say, my mother and I were shocked. She flew back to St. Louis with my father’s body. Without any hesitation, Andy said he would drive the 20 hours to St. Louis with me in my parents’ car. We drove straight through the night and Andy was the rock I needed. He knew his teammate was struggling and needed support. But the support of teammates went even beyond that. Two days later, a dozen teammates and my coach, Eddy Sheehan, himself a Harvard Track and Field athlete from the 1970s, showed up at my house. This was before cell phones and the Internet, how did they even find me?! Somehow word had spread and my teammates just showed up for me.

On the morning of the funeral, five of the distance runners and Eddy showed up at my house to go for a run. I can’t even remember where we ran or how far, and I know we didn’t say a single word the whole run. It was everything to just appreciate their love and support.

I left a week later for Japan and ran well enough to win the bronze medal. In addition to imagining my father running with me, I also felt the presence of my teammates and coaches on the streets of Kobe, encouraging me from across the world to run faster. This is something you can’t learn in the classroom. The human capital, the skills learned through hours of training and competition and the bonds of teamwork that teach us to maximally support those around us, create enormous value for the organizations we join and society as a whole. This is the soul of Harvard Athletics. Thank you.

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• Third team All-American (2004)
• 2-time first team All-Region (2004, 2005)
• All-Region second team (2003)
• 2-time All-Ivy League first team (2004, 2005)
• All-Ivy second team (2003)
• All-Ivy honorable mention (2002)
• Ivy League Rookie of the Year (2002)
• Ranks 1st in single-season assists, 5th in career assists, and 10th in game-winning goals
• Team captain (2005)
• 4-year letterwinner

Remembering Harvard Athletics

Both of my older sisters, Tina and Kate, are in athletic halls of fame for field hockey achievements. (No pressure!) So, naturally, as the youngest sibling, I set out to copy them. When you are the youngest, you are, inevitably, the most annoying. But it’s not our fault! All of my athletic skills were honed with a single goal: to be included.

As all of my fellow youngest siblings can attest, there is no team harder to make than the ones your siblings are picking. Every afternoon in the McDavitt backyard was like Olympic tryouts…but I was five. I quickly learned that I didn’t have to be better than my incredibly competitive sisters. I had to help them be better than their friends. I remember the crisp October day when I finally “made the team.” My role was clear: to make those around me be better.

I continued this pursuit, following my sisters and seeking to elevate all the teams I made, for the next 13 years and ultimately continued this role at Harvard, sharing the field with Kate for the last time. Freshman year, I helped our team to an NCAA berth and became the 3rd player in program history to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors.

Suddenly, my path changed very quickly, and field hockey came to a halt. In the Winter of freshman year, I found myself drowning. I mean that literally. I had pleurisy in both my lungs. They were filling with fluid that was infected with a strep intermedius -- a new or mutated strain that didn’t fit into any of the known strep categories. By the time I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, my right lung had stopped working, my left lung was filling up quickly, and they discovered an infected abscess behind my heart.

After surgery, I spent the spring of freshman year with 2 chest tubes coming out of my side and a picc line in my arm. I took a medical leave of absence from school. For the first time since I had been good enough to make “Team McDavitt,” my life was suddenly filled with great uncertainty. In this moment, not the darkest -- but the grayest, the foggiest -- I was forced to reckon with my own fragility, and, even moreso, my self-perception. I didn’t know if I would ever play again.

This was a confrontation of identity that I wasn’t ready for…a moment that, at some point, all athletes must face: who am I without this uniform? This ability? What is my worth? If the journey of becoming an elite athlete is physical and mental -- the journey of redefining oneself after is spiritual, searching, and deeply, deeply emotional.

There I was, 5 years old again, dying to be on the team…and not just because we got meal money to spend at the Kong (that was great though!)…but because my team was filled with incredible friends and my coach Sue Caples, who called often to check in on me -- showing up for me when I couldn’t for them. This added a new color to my understanding of what it meant to be a great teammate. They reversed the roles on me -- they were making me better. Harvard field hockey wasn’t just a sport for me, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, it saved my life.

During my recovery, I realized that being an elite athlete is not a destination, it's a way of existing. Every skill I learned and honed in becoming an elite athlete was everything I needed for when I thought I would no longer be one. I needed resilience, I needed to be okay with failure, I needed determination, and discipline. There is something transcendent about an athlete’s mentality -- the mentality of possibility.

Miraculously, I had a full recovery and it was that exact mentality that I brought back to my team. I was so elated and grateful to be back on the field, and I was determined to mirror the love my team had shown me off the field, through small actions, like joining a teammate in the cold tubby (which is nothing short of torture) if they were rehabbing an injury for too long and feeling demoralized. Alas, these small gestures paid dividends on the field. Junior year, we won the Ivy League Championship for the first time since -- well, let's just say the last championship team photo featured A LOT of gigantic bangs -- we competed in the NCAAs, and lastly, that season produced the stat I am most proud of: I still hold the single season assist record. Which means I was the best at setting up my teammates.

My ultimate destination wasn’t about being a great athlete, it was about learning how to be a great teammate both on and off the field, and discovering that the latter is a necessity in yielding the former.

In life, you can do everything “right,” everything you're “supposed to,” and still end up in a place of uncertainty. So no matter what, build a great team…full of people who are so happy that you picked them and they picked you.

Finally, I'm so sincerely honored to be inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of fame. Participating in Harvard athletics – being a Harvard teammate – has proven to be one of the most formative and special times in my life. I carry with me the memories, the lessons, and the sisters, blood-related and otherwise. I'm filled with gratitude for that time and for the privilege of now being part of the HoF. Up up Harvard!

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• First team All-Ivy (2001)
• Honorable Mention All-Ivy (2002)
• Led team to an undefeated 2001 season and an Ivy League Championship
• Holds numerous records including completions in a game, completion sin a season, career completions, career passing touchdowns, and career passing yards
• 3-year letterwinner
• Team captain (2002)
• Hula Bowl selection (2002)

Remembering Harvard Athletics

All the Georgian bricks and iconic architecture of Harvard were really something to behold for an island kid in the Fall of 1998. But what floored me was the people. I think everyone remembers the first time they were surrounded by peers who were clearly better specimens: smarter, wiser, happier, more mature, more accomplished. More astonishing was the kindness, character, and humor of these superhumans. Some recoil upon discovering their smallness; I relished it. I knew then there was no place I’d rather be.

The joy of finding a bigger, more promising world was met with the frustration of my own ineptitude on the football field. A Run and Shoot quarterback in high school, I threw 50 times a game and never from a traditional pocket. I quickly found myself a college quarterback who couldn’t do the basics, like drop back and pass. Worse, I was a disaster at Harvard’s bread-and-butter run play, an off-tackle zone handoff. The play turned me into someone futilely running after a departing bus. The running back would be wide and gone—without the football pathetically still in my hands. It would take a lot to remain the fifth of five quarterbacks. I was going to be cut.

I was grateful to Brad Wilford who generously and patiently offered help and encouragement in learning Coach Murphy’s complex offense. He did this as he battled for the starting quarterback position, which he would earn the following year. I would later try to pay it forward to younger quarterbacks.

It was an innovative time in football offense—and for Harvard’s offense. The Spread offense and multi-receiver sets were taking over college football. The plodding style of football started to get more dynamic and exciting. And effective.

My high school coach, Don Botelho, was my angel who brought me a greater future. Jay Mills was my greatest teacher. Coach Mills was demanding with an insistence on detail. Details had details. Steps and movements had to be exacting and precise; I was a lost cause. In time, things started to click. The offense had more weapons while becoming less complicated. The daily anxiety and despair were being replaced with a growing realization I was improving. We were improving.

Offensive records fell in that 2000 year, and yet there was more improvement to be made, namely turnovers. Despite the yards and touchdowns, we lost five games by a combined total of 23 points. Fixing the turnover problem turned a 5-5 team into an undefeated one in 2001.

The players of that era had many standouts on both sides of the ball. Beyond talent, I appreciated their good nature and that we really liked each other, especially within the ’02 class. Besides making it a better experience, I think those friendships really helped us win tight games and win our 2001 showdown with also-undefeated Penn. I remember we were down two touchdowns at halftime, but there was no sense of alarm in the locker room. Guys just looked at each other with the nods and smirks shared between co-conspirators. We knew we were going to win.

Carl Morris accolades were well deserved, but I think about his toughness and selflessness. His greatness made it easy to overlook just how productive the receivers and tight ends were, guys like Sam Taylor, Dan Farley, Kyle Cremarosa, Sean Meeker, and Matt Fratto (among many others); or the consistency and reliability of the running backs. Nick Palazzo’s yards per carry was outstanding, and he almost never got stopped for loss. Many games had three or four different ball carriers and 10-plus players recording receptions. We had weapons everywhere.

The Offensive Line was the heart of it all, the real star. I’m still grateful for Jason Hove, Steve Collins, Justin Stark, Dan Kistler, Mike Clare, Jamil Soriano, Brian Sponheimer, Sam Miller, Nate Torinus, Lane Arnold, John Kadzielski, Joe Traverso, Joe Price, Jack Fadule, Dan Weidle, Joe Mujalli, and the others who drove our success. More than that, I’m grateful to be their friend.

From these and others, I also found great leaders and role models, some of whom were younger than me. Everyone should be so lucky.

We had great care and support from the training room. Emmo (Dick Emerson) and Brad Quigley took excellent care of us, and occasionally performed the small miracle. I still quietly thank two Garys from time to time. Gary Geissler took care of me through excruciating pain and easily the worst year of my life. I might have listened to doctors and thrown in the towel in 2002 without his compassion and time. He salvaged half of my last season. And Gary Guerriero, who in 2001 diagnosed and fixed an injury that had been eroding my arm strength for over a year. I felt brand new and strong after a half a summer in his Manhattan facilities. I’m still in their debt.

Chet Stone, Artie Clifford, and others kept us fighting fit with occasional pearls of wisdom or a good joke.

And I was lucky to get my first real (and greatest) boss in Coach Murphy. He could have just as easily been a business titan had he not wanted to be a football coach. It took me years to fully appreciate his blunt communication style and his professional, what have you done for me lately, approach. He set the bar high and higher, and one way or another, he was going to get everyone’s best.

I’m a better businessman today—and better for clients and other stakeholders—because of the sense of humility and insistence on consistently “earning it” we got from him.

I give thanks to Bob Glatz, the Varsity Club, and the many others making Harvard athletics so special and reward. Congratulations to the other (and far more deserving) recipients of this honor. I wish everyone the best.

Harvard Athletic Achievements

• 2-time first team All-Ivy (2005, 2006)
• All-Ivy honorable mention (2004)
• ESPN Academic All-American (2006)
• Ranks in top 10 for career rebounds, rebounds per game, career blocked shots, and career steals
• Team rebound leader in 2004, 2005, 2006 and team scoring leader in 2005
• 3-time team MVP
• 4-year letterwinner
• Team captain (2006)