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Dr. Thomas Lionel Hill is well aware February is Black History Month. However, Hill was completely unaware he became the University of Oklahoma’s first Black athletics administrator while employed there from 1989-93.
Hill learned of his achievement while chatting earlier in the month with Mike Houck, OU’s Assistant Athletics Director/Strategic Communications, roughly 33 years after Hill was hired as the school’s assistant athletics director for academics and student life.
“I swear I didn’t even know about it until Mike reached out,” Hill said with a chuckle. “That never even crossed my mind.”
The fact Hill was oblivious he broke the administrative color barrier within OU’s athletics department corroborates race played no factor in him landing the job. For this, Hill credits Donnie Duncan, the school’s athletics director from 1986-96 who passed away in 2016.
“Donnie Duncan was responsible for that (my hiring),” Hill said without hesitation. “Donnie was special. Donnie recruited me and there was no conversation at all about race or anything like that. He made it clear, ‘We’ve got a job to do. I’ve identified you as the person I want to do it,’ and we just plowed through it. None of that (race) ever came up.”
Born in New Orleans, La., Hill was one of five boys raised by a single mother in the less-than-desirable Magnolia Projects. “She lit the fire under us,” Hill said of his mother, Mattie.
As a college student, Hill arrived at Arkansas State University as a high jumper, but his track coach switched him to hurdles and insisted he had the talent to become a conference champion.
“My coach kept saying I’d be the conference champ,” Hill said. “I thought, ‘This man’s crazy.’ But you know how that goes. If somebody tells you something enough, you soon begin to believe it. I was the conference champ for four years. He honestly saw something in me that I had no clue about. I knew I was a good competitor, but I didn’t think I was anywhere close to a world-class sprinter, or anything like that. My goal was to get an education. If he’s willing to move me to sprinter, I’m willing to humor him. So I said, ‘Sure.'”
The uber-competitive Hill continually exceeded expectations, became the world’s No. 1 hurdler in 1970 and was featured on the cover of Track and Field News that June. He tied the world record of 13.2 that year in the 120-yard high hurdles at the U.S. Track and Field Federation meet in Wichita, Kan. Hill ran a 13.1 in that same meet, but the clocking did not count toward a world record because it was wind-aided.
Hill was the 1970 NCAA Indoor champion in the 60-yard hurdles and placed second at the 1972 NCAA Championships. He was ranked No. 3 in the world in 1972 by capturing the bronze medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, then rose to the No. 2 ranking in 1973.
After finishing school at ASU, Hill planned to enter the military after being drafted into the Vietnam War. That’s when fate stepped in with a somewhat inexplicable chain of events that rerouted his future.
“He was so good with kids. He was stern, but he was fair. He just encouraged them, wanted them to be the best they could be.”
John Underwood, Former OU Assistant A.D.
“When I got back from Munich, I was asked, ‘Would you like to come to West Point?'” Hill said. “West Point or Fort Hood? Hmmm. That’s a no-brainer there. I said, ‘Sure (to West Point).’ Literally, someone at the Pentagon called on my behalf. Some four-star general called saying he wanted me. My first job was assistant track coach at the U.S. Military Academy as a second lieutenant. That’s crazy. That’s what started it, and it’s been like that my whole career. God’s blessed me. That’s all I can say.”
Hill earned a master’s degree and doctorate in counselor education. He completed his master’s work at Long Island University-C.W. Post. Hill then was released from the Army and returned to Arkansas State, where he ran an academic unit called “University College” for about three years.
In 1984, Hill was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. He completed his Ph.D. in counselor education through the school with his dissertation in 1985 and continued to work as coordinator for University College.
Following an internship at the University of Florida and a stint as assistant athletic director at Tulane, Hill was lured to OU by Duncan.
As an administrator, Hill was a double-edged weapon. Not only did he have extensive educational training in his vocation, he also had been a world-class athlete – a status few athletes ever reach.
Hill had the ability to relate to all students, not just student-athletes. His personal achievements were a gold standard for students of any color.
“In dealing with high-performance athletes, I had done something that even some of those kids couldn’t do,” Hill said. That was a good respect factor. That truly helped me and, quite frankly, I used that to my advantage.”
John Underwood was an OU assistant athletics director when Hill was hired. The two have remained friends and are in frequent contact ever since.
“He’s a stud, just a solid individual,” Underwood said of Hill. “He was so good with kids. He was stern, but he was fair. He just encouraged them, wanted them to be the best they could be. When Donnie told me he was coming, you knew about his (Hill’s) credentials, and you knew about his background as an athlete. But he also was the epitome of an academician. To be an Olympic hurdler and achieve all he had, that’s someone special.”
In July of 1993, Hill left OU to become dean of students at Florida. He said the opportunity to work with an entire student body rather than just the athletic community was one of the reasons he decided to accept the position. Hill also was familiar with members of the UF administration from the internship he served a decade earlier. “This is a different position,” Hill said at the time. “It’s more in line with what I’ve been trained for.”
After Florida, Hill completed his administrative journey at Iowa State, where for 18 years he held the post of senior vice president for student affairs (1997-2015).
“I had the opportunity to help others like people had helped me. That was basically what my career was about.”
Thomas Hill
Hill then retired – sort of – becoming Senior Vice President Emeritus at ISU. Even in retirement, Hill’s perpetual resume remains active.
The 72-year-old now resides in Midlothian, Texas, about 30 miles south of Dallas-Fort Worth. “I’m down here chillin’, man,” Hill said. “I’m enjoying life right now.”
Hill has two sons, Thomas and Lamont.
Thomas was a standout at Duke University as a member of the 1991 and 1992 national championship basketball teams and is now an assistant coach at Berkeley College in Manhattan, N.Y.
Lamont played basketball at the University of Texas, went on to earn an electrical engineering degree and now serves as Director of Public Policy at Oncor, the largest electric delivery company in Texas.
Had he chosen to, Dr. Hill likely could have occupied an even higher office on campus. “People would sometimes ask, ‘Do you want to be a school president?'” Hill said. “I said, ‘No. I’m doing exactly what I want to do. I’m enjoying it.'”
How did he accomplish so much? “Well, in truth, I’m old. OK?” Hill deadpanned. “I would love to tell you I planned everything, but I had nothing to do with any of it.”
Though fate occasionally intervened during Hill’s remarkable advancement in administration, it was almost impossible to not notice the man himself.
“My motivation was I had the opportunity to help others like people had helped me,” Hill said. “That was basically what my career was about. Part of our family’s belief was you were blessed to bless others. It’s not just about you.”
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