PHOENIX SPORTS
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{ Miles Williams ‘15, fourth from the left in the front row, was honored as part of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team at the Sugar Bowl in January. }
AN IMPACT PLAYER BY SHAKORI FLETCHER ’16
Meet Miles Williams. On the field, the junior defensive back is a dominant force on game days and a leader in the locker room. On campus the human service studies major and African & African-American studies and psychology double minor is consistently recognized for academic achievement. If that weren’t enough, Williams has been involved in community service for as long as he can remember, and he says helping others is his No. 1 priority. “My parents were a big influence in terms of making sure we gave back,” he says. “My sister and I would go to the soup kitchen to volunteer and also we would donate clothes and collect cans through church, and that really became something we did as a family. Then
12 the MAGAZINE of ELON
I decided to start doing things on my own as I got older.” That passion for service has not gone unnoticed. In the fall, he was one of 22 players nationwide named to the 2013 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, one of college football’s most prestigious off-the-field honors. Selection is based on character, leadership, good academic standing and contributions to the greater good. The last Elon student-athlete to claim the honor was Shanard Smith in 2000. Teammate Akeem Langham says Williams’ national recognition positively impacts the team as a whole. “Guys were happy for him, excited, and glad that a member of our team was able to win an award like that,” the senior says. “I think seeing Miles put forth that effort definitely had a positive impact on guys wanting to be involved with community service.”
For Williams, awards are not what drive him to excel both on and off the field. “I’m not all about the accolades. I’m going to serve regardless of whether I’m recognized for it or not,” he says. “Before and after the award, I’m still going to serve; I’m just glad I could glorify Christ and represent the university, my family and my teammates well.” As a first-year student at Elon, Williams spent a lot of time mentoring and tutoring at the Positive Attitude Youth Center in Burlington, N.C., along with other students from his Introduction to Human Service Studies course. “The kids really had an impact on my life and made me want to do more, so that summer I served as a camp counselor at the YMCA and worked with some of the same kids from the center,” he says. “We have to be here anyway during the summer, so it worked out perfectly.” While he loves playing football, his involvement with children from the youth center, Boys & Girls Club and Elon First Baptist Church has led him to a career goal—to open an inner city school for disadvantaged youth. “Mentoring the kids and seeing how much they struggle with some of the reading and writing, and knowing how much of an equalizer education is, this is something I really want to go into,” he says. “It’s going to take a lot of patience and a lot of hard work. I plan on going to grad school in education administration and figuring out exactly how to make that happen.”