This Saturday when football teams from Eastern Kentucky University and Western Carolina University lace their cleats and adjust their chin straps, they will take the field for the kick-off of the inaugural Opportunity Bowl. This football game has ties that reach all the way from Richmond, KY, to Kinston and Lenoir County. The game will be played in memory of Dr. Sheila Davidson Pressley, a 1985 graduate of North Lenoir High School.

One irony is that both these universities were important in the life of Dr. Pressley. She was a 1989 graduate of Western Carolina University, and she joined the Health Sciences faculty at Eastern Kentucky in 2004. Eventually, she rose to become Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Eastern Kentucky, serving in the role of teacher and mentor until her passing in January of this year.

Kickoff of the inaugural Opportunity Bowl is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET at Roy Kidd Stadium in the Blue Grass state and will air live on ESPN3.

The name for the bowl game was a natural fit since Eastern Kentucky is known as a school of opportunity, a particular point of pride for Pressley. Access plus affordability equals opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds at Eastern Kentucky University. The faculty strives to nurture the abilities of their students and help them meet the challenges they face when returning to their communities to live and work after graduation. 

The Opportunity Bowl will provide a platform to highlight opportunity-focused initiatives at EKU made possible through strategic partnerships with the Kentucky River Foothills Development Council, a Kentucky-based Community Action Agency; the Kentucky Housing Corporation; the Kentucky Department of Local Government; the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing; the City of Richmond; and a host of other strategic partners. 

These initiatives include the Eastern Scholar House, which serves the needs of single parents with children; the early Childhood Development Center; the EKU Veterans Education and Transition Support Center, which delivers supportive services for veterans; the Workforce Pathway at Kit Carson Commons, which is currently under construction; and the Colonel Commitment Scholarship Model.

“With our decision to play football in the fall, a goal we’ve shared publicly several times is that we wanted to create unique ‘opportunities’ and championship-level experiences for our student-athletes, coaches, and fans,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Matt Roan.

“Once our season opener with Western Carolina was moved to the end of the year, knowing about Dr. Pressley's ties to both WCU and EKU as a student and in service, respectively, I began to collaborate with WCU to pay tribute to her in this way.  

“This game provides us with a platform to discuss her legacy and highlight many of the things important to her, including eliminating barriers to education and advocating for early childhood education, among other opportunity-focused initiatives at EKU.  It also gives us a chance to share with the world the things that make Richmond such a great place to live, work, play, and visit,” he said. 

Before joining the faculty at Eastern Kentucky in 2004, Pressley participated in conservation efforts in Zimbabwe, spent a year with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office, and served with several nonprofit agencies. As an EKU faculty member, she became the first African American to chair the EKU Faculty Senate, chairing the faculty from 2012 through 2014.

Pressley earned graduate degrees from Tufts University and the University of Kentucky.  In fact, the University of Kentucky awarded her the Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award, an award that honors outstanding African American alumni.

As I read the article announcing the kick off of the first Opportunity Bowl, an image flashed in my mind. I can’t help but think of Heb. 12:1:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

That image is drawn from athletic competition and the cheers of the crowd in a stadium. I like to think Sheila may be watching this football game dedicated to her memory and legacy.

If you want to be part of honoring Dr. Sheila Davidson Pressley, tune into ESPN3 to watch the inaugural Opportunity Bowl. The EKU Colonels and WCU Catamounts are sure to seize this opportunity to bring their best to the field.

Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.