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| | | UNC-Wilmington honors Alumnus of the Year | | |  | | | Kim Hasty, Reporter
(Fayetteville) Most of his Terry Sanford High School classmates were seeing things a little differently than John Tyson on the school’s “College Day” back in 1971.
Recruiters from all over the state had come for the annual event, trying to further entice the already eager seniors. No one was surprised to see the long lines of students that were forming in front of the tables where representatives from Chapel Hill and Raleigh sat to answer question after question about their popular universities.
Tyson and his buddy Bill Simons glanced over at another table and noticed that there was no line at all in front of the fellow who had come to represent the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
“I’m not going to say that Billy and I felt sorry for him,” Tyson said. “But he was kind of just sitting there twiddling his thumbs.”
The recruiter, glad to have an audience, told Tyson and Simons about the growing college where the weather is so warm and the beach is just a few miles down Oleander Boulevard. He told them about the brand new dormitory that would be ready for incoming freshman, marking the first time students would have the chance to live on campus.
“I had already been accepted to Western Carolina,” Tyson said. “He reminded me that it gets mighty cold up there.”
So it was that Tyson and Simons bought into the recruiter’s enthusiasm and became roommates in brand new Galloway Dorm in the fall of ’71. They were among a group of only 400 students who lived on campus.
Simons would go on to earn his undergraduate degree in history and, later, to earn the rank of captain and a stellar reputation in the Fayetteville Police Department. Tyson earned an English and secondary-education degree and gained a measure of expertise in reading and writing that would serve him well in the years to come.
And in those years to come, Tyson would represent his alma mater in a most illustrious fashion. After graduating from college in 1974 and marrying his high school sweetheart, Kirby Thomason, in 1975, he worked as a probation and parole officer and as a schoolteacher. He earned a law degree from Campbell University, a Master of Business Administration degree from Duke University, and a Master of Law in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia.
The highlight of his career came in the 2001, when he was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Tyson’s alma mater, meanwhile, was achieving quite a few accomplishments in its own right. UNC-W has grown to an enrollment of 11,000 students and is one of the most highly regarded public universities in the state. Its marine sciences program is one of the top two in the nation, along with Duke’s.
This year, the university recognized the commitment of someone who believed in its promise many years ago, back when the other students were clamoring for the better-known colleges. The university named John Tyson its 2006 Alumnus of the Year.
“John’s always been a visionary,” said his wife, Kirby. “He could always see the potential in things before others could.”
Tyson was honored during a black-tie banquet that was part of the university’s homecoming celebration. About 300 friends and family members were there to show their appreciation for Tyson. Those in attendance included Simons and another former roommate, Michael Kennedy, as well as folks such as Justice Ed Brady and lawyers Stuart Clarke and Willis Brown. Former Wilmington mayor David Jones, who gave Tyson his first job as a probation and parole officer, was on hand to introduce his longtime friend.
Most importantly, his wife, who is also a UNC-W graduate, and all four of their adult children were in attendance and shown in the photo along with UNC-W Chancelor Rosemary DePaolo. Jason, 27, is a 2000 graduate of UNC-W and works for Martha Stewart Living magazine in New York. Caroline, 26, graduated from Wake Forest University and currently serves as her dad’s assistant in Raleigh with plans to attend law school. John Havens, 23, left Sunday for basic training in the Army Reserve, and 22-year-old Henry is a senior at Campbell University.
“I don’t know an honor that someone can receive,” Tyson said, “that means more than to be honored by your school.
-end-
(This story is courtesy of the Fayetteville Observer and the photo was taken by Jamie Moncrief of the UNC-W Public Information Staff)
| | | | Publish Date: 06/14/2006 |
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