WASHINGTON - The Gallaudet University Athletics Department is proud to announce its 2023 Athletics Hall of Fame Class. Over the course of one week the department will introduce one member of the seven-person class each day.
The seven-person class will be released in alphabetical order. Each release will include a brief summary of the inductees' career at GU along with a video of Athletic Director Warren Keller contacting each inductee or member of their family to share the news of being selected to the Athletics Hall of Fame.
At the conclusion of the week, a general overall release about the entire Athletics Hall of Fame class will be shared along with ticket information for the event.Â
Our first inductee of the 2023 Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame Class is Hume Le Prince Battiste, 1913.
Battiste was a true trailblazer as Gallaudet's first black person to play sports at Kendall Green. Battiste was a four-sport standout as he participated in baseball, football, men's basketball and men's track and field.
Battiste played four seasons on the Bison baseball team (1909-12) where he was a star hurler for the buff and blue. During his sophomore year he supposedly struck out 17 batters against Johns Hopkins University. Battiste served as baseball team captain in 1911 and even Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Walter Johnson of the Washington Nationals stopped by to witness Battiste pitch his senior season.
Over on the gridiron, Battiste suited up for the Bison football program for four years (1908-11). Battiste played quarterback and running back and was recorded making long runs and touchdowns. He was named team captain of the 1911 football team.
Battiste was a center on the Gallaudet basketball team for four years (1909-12) where he was a scorer and rebounder for the Bison. He helped to lead Gallaudet to several impressive wins, including a 54-27 win over the Maryland Agriculture College, now known as the University of Maryland.
Battiste was also a leader and standout on the men's track and field team for three years (1910-12). His first year on the team (1910) he broke the Gallaudet track record in the 1-mile relay and in 1911 the GU relay team placed second at the famed Penn Relays in Philadelphia.Â
The 2023 Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame event will take place during Homecoming Weekend on campus. The induction ceremony is set for Sunday, Oct. 22, at 11 a.m., in the Peikoff Alumni House ("Ole Jim").
The Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame Induction is one of the premier events of the year for the GU Athletics Department. The special event recognizes the individuals, past and present, whose contributions to Gallaudet University Athletics have been deemed worthy of induction into the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame.
To be considered for the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame one must be a former Bison student-athlete, coach and/or contributor that is five years removed from the University. One must be nominated in writing and submitted to the Gallaudet University Athletics Department during an open nomination period. Inductees can be deaf, hard of hearing or hearing. All nominations are then screened and reviewed by the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame committee.
2023 Athletics HOF Class - Receiving The Call: Hume Le Prince Battiste (1908-12)
Link:Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYSKHOQnGcw
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