Orange seat honors former goaltender
A. Sue Weisler
The one orange seat among the 3,999 black and gray seats in the Gene Polisseni Center is in honor of Green B. Williams ’78 (business administration), a former RIT goaltender.
When fans walk into the new Gene Polisseni Center, they will quickly notice one orange seat among the 3,999 black and gray seats. That seat is in honor of Green B. Williams ’78 (business administration), a former RIT goaltender.
Williams was as committed to his country as he was to RIT. A native of Amherst, Mass., Williams played 50 games in goal for RIT from 1973 to 1977. While at RIT, Williams received the RIT Coaches Award for Outstanding Contributions to the program in 1976 and the RIT Hockey Outstanding Senior Award in 1977.
After graduating, Williams enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he served with distinction. Tragically, he was killed in a pilot-training accident on March 21, 1984, just six days shy of his 28th birthday. Today, RIT men’s hockey athletes know of Williams through the annual Green B. Williams Award for Academic Excellence, given to the men’s hockey student athlete with the highest grade point average.
Alumni Tom Keene ’75 (biology) and Jeff Begoon ’78 (business administration), began a movement to honor Green B. Williams’ memory. With support from Williams’ family, an effort to raise money for the Polisseni Center was started with a specific goal to make the one seat, located in Section 107, Row K, Seat 8, orange. The seat is directly behind the net that RIT will defend twice. The single orange seat is a reminder of Williams’ commitment to excellence and his Tiger Pride.
The seat will be available for purchase on a game-by-game basis during the season for both men’s and women’s games.
Topics
Recommended News
-
November 21, 2024
!['Various people put their hands together in a circle.']()
Americans agree more than they might think − not knowing this jeopardizes the nation’s shared values
An essay written by Lawrence Torcello, associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, published by The Conversation.
-
November 21, 2024
!['an illustrated image of a pixelated face appears next to the words real or fake.']()
Detecting digital deception
Today, artificial intelligence is being used to manipulate media. At RIT, a team of student and faculty researchers is leading the charge to help journalists and intelligence analysts figure out what is real and what is fake. Their work has more than $2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and Knight Foundation.
-
November 21, 2024
![two men sit at a table looking at a laptop. A third man leans over the table to look at the laptops screen.]()
In and out of Africa
Africa is rich in natural resources and contains one of the most diverse ecosystems across the globe. The Sahara Desert itself is larger than the continental United States. With all the unique landscapes, wildlife, and growing urban areas, more than 30 RIT faculty have recognized the importance of traveling to the continent, all backed by RIT Global.
-
November 20, 2024
!['Five black men stand in a semicircle in a small garden in Kenya.']()
RIT professor helps to tackle energy access in rural Africa
Williams’ collaborative work tackles the subject of energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, the United Nations established Sustainable Development Goal 7 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
