It began 10 years ago, when Doug White was participating in aninternational baseball tournament in China.
The University of Massachusetts senior place-kicker was 11 at thetime, yet as he toured the country's sights - particuarly TianamenSquare, the sight of the student uprisings in the late 1980s - hebegan to appreciate what his parents had been instilling in him aboutthe need to be proactive.
Fast forward to last semester, on the Amherst campus. As presidentof the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, White led a marchto the administration building in protest of seven varsity sportsthat were slated to be discontinued.
The efforts led UMass officials to ultimately meet with student-athletes from those sports, many of whom discovered through the mediathat their programs would be cut. 'The important thing is that we gotthem to sit down and dialogue with us,' he said.
Months later, he traveled to County Donegal, Ireland, and Derry,Northern Ireland, to develop a three-week business course to serve asa bridge between University of Ulster, Magee College and UMass.
The course is to expose American business students to sociallyconscious organizations via a one-week placement in local businessesin the Derry City area. He spent six weeks in Northern Irelandsetting up the course.
Often, the phrase, 'student-athlete' seems inappropriate for manywho participate in collegiate athletics.
For White, the phrase seems incomplete.
He is a student-athlete-leader-activist-humanitarian-publicservant.
The Claremont, Calif., resident has done more in his tenure atUMass than many folks accomplish in a lifetime. Meanwhile, he alsohas found the time to become one of the most consistent kickers inschool history and will likely finish among the school's all-timeleaders in points.
'My personal goal is to let coach [Mark Whipple] know that specialteams can be counted upon when we need three points or when an extrapoint is crucial,' said White, who will be there when the Minutementake on visiting American International tomorrow at 1 p.m.
White has 125 career points, 10 of which came in last week's 52-3rout of Central Connecticut, where he hit a 21-yard field goal and 7extra points. The effort was a single-game high for White, who lastseason led the Minutemen in scoring with 40 points, (7 of 11 on fieldgoals, 19 of 23 extra points).
With a UMass offense expected to score many more touchdowns thanlast season, White's numbers are expected to increase dramatically.But first things first. 'On Saturday, we're going into this gamehoping to be 2-0 for the first time since 1986,' he said. 'That is abig concern to us.'
White entered the season ranked fourth all-time at UMass in fieldgoals made and third in extra points made. But his notoriety on thefield pales in comparison to what he has accomplished off it. Had hegone to his first college of choice - Northwestern - his academicfeats might have garnered him more attention.
White was set to go to the highly regarded Big Ten school whenthen-coach Gary Barnett left for the University of Colorado. He saidthe incoming coaching staff informed him there would be noscholarship money for place-kickers.
At that time, UMass offensive coordinator Dan Hoover, who was oncefootball coach at White's high school, had returned to the SouthernCalifornia area to recruit a few junior college players. He stoppedin the school to use its video equipment, hoping to watch film onprospects.
'My highlight film just happened to be lying there near the VCR,'said White, 'and he decided to take a look at it, too. He liked whathe saw, and then UMass recruited me. I took a visit here and likedit.'
In White, UMass found an answer to kicking problems that wereprevalent even when the team won a national championship in 1998.
'We were lucky to get him,' said Whipple. 'You sometimes worryabout the kicker because they have to do so much on their own, butdon't worry about him because he works so hard and does all the rightthings.'
White has had the highest grade-point average (3.73, managementmajor) on the team the last two years.
In addition to the work he did in Ireland and Northern Ireland, hetraveled to Ghana last year as part of a business development andglobal citizenship group and helped set up a computer trainingcenter.
He assisted in a Meals-on-Wheels program in his hometown and tookpart in a Tobacco Control Program in West Springfield that educatedsixth-graders about the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke.
'My parents instilled in me as a child the importance of standingup for what you believe in and leaving everything a little bit betterthan how you found it,' said White. 'When I visited the site of thestudent uprisings in China that was when I started forming a personalethos to be a proactive citizen.'
White said he hopes to explore a future in public service -perhaps politics - after he graduates. As for now, he hopes to helpthe Minutemen continue to rebound from last year's 3-8 finish, itsworst since 1997.
'AIC is a big matchup for us,' he said of a Division 2 programUMass vows not to take lightly after being outplayed throughout muchof a 21-0 triumph over AIC in 2000.
'That game was tied, 0-0, at halftime and that was not indicativeof the team we are this year,' said White. 'We have a lot of peoplewho played in that game who remember it. We want to make this more ofa positive experience.'
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