Dr. Tom Waddell '59 Fund | Springfield College

Details

The purpose of the Dr. Tom Waddell ’59 Fund is to provide financial support to promote diversity education programs that will enable our students to positively impact the community at large. The fund will provide financial support for diversity education programs on and off the campus. Once fully funded, a portion of the interest generated from the endowed fund will be used for annual programs around the topic of diversity.

Tom Waddell was a member of the Springfield College Class of 1959. He was an outstanding athlete, excelling in track and field, gymnastics, and football while a student. Tom represented the United States in the decathlon at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he placed sixth. Waddell served in the army, was a physician, and became a leader in the gay community in San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s. He may be best known as the founder of the Gay Games, first started in 1982 and held every four years since. Waddell was married to Sara Waddell Lewinstein with whom he had a daughter, Jessica. He died of AIDS in 1987. He was inducted into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990.

The fund is managed through the Office of Inclusion and Community Engagement.

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