The Journeys of Grinnell’s Odd Couple, Will Freeman and Kesho Scott
It began with a coffee at Saints Rest between an ex-international athlete and an ex-Black Panther, Will Freeman and Kesho Scott. Living the binaries of white and black, gendered male and female, teacher and coach, sociologist and sport psychologist, dancer and pole vaulter, it would lead them to discover their similarities and result in three amazing Journeys Courses in the American Studies Department. These courses challenge students to integrate their 21st-century Grinnell education with the journey they will live with the longest, their own inner journey. Our alumni discussion will ask you, "How aware are you of the inner journey that shapes you and creates the world you want to live in?"
Faculty Member: Will Freeman, associate professor of physical education and Kesho Scott, senior faculty, sociology and American studies
Discussion Date: Thursday, April 20 at 7 p.m.
Meet Professor Freeman
Having been at Grinnell since 1980, Will Freeman is considered nationally as a teacher of coaches and athletes. He has led the Grinnell Pioneers to 33 Midwest Conference titles in cross country and track and field during his 40 years at Grinnell, coaching beginners to national champions in his tenure. Freeman attended the University of Florida where he competed as a highly successful pole vaulter, winning 5 SEC titles in the vault (3 indoors and two outdoors), the Penn Relays vault, was the National AAU Junior Champion (19 and under). He also earned NCAA Div. 1 All-America recognition and was a finalist at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1976.
A former National Chairman for Coaching Education for the USA Track & Field, Freeman holds Level III certification as a coach and as a Level II and III instructor. He served four years on the NCAA Track & Field Coaches Committee, chairing the committee in his final year. He was also selected as part of the select USA Track & Field Knowledge Team, dedicated to improving coaching education in the sport.
A much sought-after clinician, Freeman speaks at clinics both around the U.S. and internationally. He has trained coaches and athletes throughout the US, in Canada, the Bahamas, China, and Africa. An avid writer, he has written or co-written six books, many articles and wrote and presented on 19 training videos for coaches of all levels.
Freeman has been the meet director for four NCAA championships while at Grinnell, two cross country and two indoor NCAA Championships in Track & Field. Besides his duties as a cross country and track coach, Freeman is an Associate Professor at Grinnell College. His areas of study are in Sport Psychology and American Studies. Freeman’s wife Evelyn is the highly successful women’s cross country and track coach at Grinnell.
Meet Professor Scott
She is an internationally renowned Diversity Trainer/Consultant, an Associate Professor of American Studies and Sociology at Grinnell College, and an award-winning writer. Kesho was a founding member of International Capacity Building Services, a cultural competency training team that specializes in facilitating both “unlearning isms” and Human Rights workshops as well various seminars and training programs that have been successfully adapted for audiences throughout the United States and abroad. In over two decades of developing unlearning racism work, Kesho has led hundreds of professional and community-based workshops; she has been keynote speaker for national conferences as well as a participant on several dozen national and local radio debates, discussions and public service announcements. Grounded in this extensive experience, Kesho developed an “affirmative duty” technique for facilitating unlearning racism workshops. It is a method that helps shift participants’ awareness, commitment and skill-set toward being actively and personally anti-racist and anti-sexist, rather than remaining merely passive observers.
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