Alan Page—a member of the Minnesota Vikings fearsome defensive unit of the 1970s who went on to become Minnesota’s first African-American Supreme Court justice—has been selected to deliver the main address at Ithaca College’s 113th Commencement ceremony on May 18, 2008. A member of the college and professional football halls of fame, he established the Page Education Foundation to motivate and assist young men and women of color in pursuing their educational goals.
“Though he earned many honors for his actions on the football field, it is in his second career—as an advocate for children in the courts and through his foundation—that Alan Page has achieved his greatest distinction,” said President Peggy R. Williams. “I am delighted that he has accepted our invitation to share his compelling story with our graduates and their guests.”
Page earned All-American honors in football, along with a degree in political science, from Notre Dame University, where he helped lead the team to a national championship in 1966. Drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, he became a linchpin of the “Purple People Eaters,” the dominating defensive unit that brought the Vikings to four Super Bowls. While still in the NFL, he had the foresight to prepare for his post-career days by earning his law degree from the University of Minnesota.
When he retired from the game in 1981, Page went to work for a Minneapolis law firm before being appointed a special assistant state attorney general. In 1992 he was elected associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was reelected in 1998—becoming the biggest vote-getter in any election in Minnesota history—and reelected again in 2004.
An ardent defender of equal education for all children, he established the Page Education Foundation in 1988 to entice young people of color to positively influence younger children. In return for financial assistance for attending a college in Minnesota, Page Scholars participate in volunteer projects through elementary and middle schools, libraries and community organizations with established tutoring and mentoring programs. Some 3,320 Page Scholars have been awarded over $5 million in scholarships since the foundation’s inception.
“Mr. Page exemplifies hard work, perseverance and self-reliance in all his endeavors, whether as a National Football League hall of famer, as a State Supreme Court justice, as an advocate for equal educational opportunities or as a family man,” said Tiffany Casale, president of the senior class. “I am overwhelmed by his enthusiasm for life and am confident he will provide the Class of 2008 as well as our families, friends and the entire Ithaca College community with a memorable and influential message.”
During his NFL career, Page was twice named the league’s defensive player of the year and voted to nine straight Pro Bowls. In 1971 he was chosen as the NFL’s most valuable player, the first defensive player to win the league’s top regular-season award. Ranked number 34 on the “Sporting News” list of the 100 greatest football players, he was inducted into the professional football hall of fame in 1988 and the college football hall of fame in 1993.
The NCAA honored Page in 1992 with a Silver Anniversary Award for achieving personal distinction in the 25 years since his graduation, and in 2004 he was the winner of the organization’s top honor—the Theodore Roosevelt Award—which is presented annually to a distinguished citizen who is a former college student-athlete and who has exemplified the ideals and purposes of college athletics by demonstrating a continuing interest and concern for physical fitness and sport. In 2002 he was inducted into the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame and in 2005 he was presented with the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award.
