Kent Washington, legendary Start Lublin basketball player, visited WSEI University on Friday. He met with the University authorities and students of our secondary school. It was an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences, share memories and draw inspiration.
Kent Washington began his visit with a meeting with students of the WSEI Academic Sports Championship Secondary School, where he spoke about coming to Poland to play basketball during the communist era and what life was like at that time.
- For these young people, who are growing up in very different times, when they have everything they need, it was a very interesting and certainly inspiring experience - said Arkadiusz Pelczar, President of the PGE Start Lublin basketball club, who accompanied the American basketball player.
- We are very pleased to have you here with us. Building the status of the university and our secondary schools together with the club is very important to us, as it helps strengthen our identity not only within the Lublin community, but throughout Poland. Working with mentors of this calibre is a source of great prestige for us - emphasised Teresa Bogacka, President of the University, dr h.c. She added: - As a non-public higher education institution, we have achieved a great deal in a very short time. Today, we are an Academy, and from 1 October we will become a University. This is the result of the hard work and consistent efforts of our academic community. There are only 15 higher education institutions of this kind in Poland, so we are very proud of our achievements.
Kent Washington was the first Black player in the Polish Basketball League and played for Start Lublin for three years. He visited our University together with his wife, Susan. He congratulated the University authorities and staff on their impressive achievements and attaining university status. He also emphasised the importance of cooperation.
- The role of the University and a school is to give young people a task to accomplish within a given environment, and it is their responsibility to carry it out - said Kent Washington.
We would like to thank Kent Washington for this memorable meeting and for the sporting inspiration he shared with our community.
