Cosby 'pep rally' aims to boost Baylor spirits
09:45 AM CDT on Thursday, September 4, 2003
Less than a year ago, a sold-out crowd paid as much as $25 each to hear comedian Bill Cosby perform at Baylor University's Ferrell Center – an event that raised money for a new floor in the gold-domed basketball arena.
On Thursday, the entertainer will return to the 14,000-student university in Waco.
But following heartache and scandal at Baylor, Cosby's mission will be different – and admission will be free.
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"With full band and yell leaders, we are going to have a rally, a pep rally, not for the golfers, not for the swimmers, not for the basketball team, not for the football team -- but for the students, for the faculty, for the administration, for alumni, for the town," Cosby said Wednesday night in an interview with The Associated Press.
Baylor will open Floyd Casey Stadium, home of its football team, for the 8 p.m. rally, which Cosby bills as an effort to boost morale after basketball player Patrick Dennehy's death.
Since Dennehy's death and the arrest of former teammate Carlton Dotson on murder charges, revelations of secretly paid players, failed drug tests and a tape-recorded plot by former coach Dave Bliss to cover up wrongdoing have shaken Baylor.
So, Cosby called Baylor President Robert Sloan last month and offered to host the rally.
At first, Cosby said with a chuckle, Sloan found it difficult to believe that he was offering to do the event for free.
"He kept saying to me, 'Now, let me get this straight, what you're offering is' ... and he was saying it loud too," Cosby said. "I said, 'Get a witness, put somebody on the phone."'
Before taking the stage in September 2002, Cosby met Baylor's basketball and track teams. "Gee whiz, I probably took a picture with these guys," he said of Dennehy and Dotson.
Cosby, who also performed at Baylor in 1990, said he knows "it's been a difficult few months" for Baylor. He hopes his appearance will shed a positive light on the university and "what a great place it is."
Student body president Jeff Leach, who is to drive Cosby around the stadium in a golf cart, said Cosby's planned visit has energized students.
"We're all pumped about it," said Leach, 21. "Having someone like him come to the campus in the first place is just awesome. Under these circumstances, it's really exciting to everybody, especially the students."
Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley said the university expects up to 20,000 people to attend. "Really, the whole campus is abuzz," Brumley said.
Cosby recalled the support his family received after his son, Ennis, 27, was shot and killed on the side of a freeway when he stopped his Mercedes-Benz to change a tire in January 1997. A Ukrainian immigrant, who later described the young Cosby as a target of opportunity for a robbery, is serving a life without parole sentence in California.
"I tell you something," Cosby said. "We received more prayers in different languages all over."
Quickly changing the subject back to the Baylor situation, Cosby said he wanted to give students a break from all the news reports.
From his favorite jazz station to the television sports report, Cosby said news of the Baylor case kept coming at him. He said he felt compassion for Baylor students dealing with the constant flood.
"I began to think, 'Well, what about these students, what are they doing, are they a little down?"' he said. "This is a volunteered appearance to try and raise spirits, if they're down, to try to talk about a positive feeling on campus, and turn some thoughts to a more positive agenda."
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/090403dntexcosby.71aeb7ed.html
