Photo: Kelly Rouse, a senior defensive lineman at Delaware State, went to elementary school in Newark, N.J., near the site where three Delaware State students were murdered Aug. 4.
By KRISTIAN POPE, The News Journal
Photo: By Bob Herbert
By KRISTIAN POPE, The News Journal
Photo: By Bob Herbert
DOVER -- Kelly Rouse's childhood memories are filled with visions of the Newark, N.J., elementary school where two Delaware State students and their friend were shot to death this month.
"Just a couple of blocks," said Rouse of how close he lived to Mount Vernon School. "I went by there a lot."
Rouse, a senior defensive lineman at DSU, attended nearby Martin Luther King Elementary School in Newark and then West Side High before earning a scholarship with the Hornets.
Rouse, who did not know any of the victims, hasn't enjoyed seeing his hometown in the national spotlight under these circumstances. The murders have made Newark a symbol of the desperate need to end senseless violence across the nation.
"It hits home," he said. "Man, even a hard look can get you killed."
The murders also brought home a fact not lost on Rouse and Hornets football coach Al Lavan: Many student-athletes grow up around violence and pursue an athletic scholarship with the hope they can earn a degree and escape the life they knew in their youth.
And federal statistics demonstrate that black men are most susceptible to violent crime, which makes athletic programs at historically black colleges particularly crucial for many students.
"They go through so many things," Lavan said. "Some of the things these kids talk about would blow your mind." A recent study published by the U.S. Justice Department showed that in 2005, 49 percent of murder victims were black and from age 17 to 29. Black residents account for less than 15 percent of the nation's population.
It's no surprise, Lavan said, why players from violent areas like Newark, N.J., feel a connection under the worst of circumstances.
The murders, Rouse said, were a vivid reminder of what he left behind. But he said football and fate were his path to beating the statistics.
"I used to think about that kind of lifestyle all the time when I was younger," Rouse said. "Football saved me. That life, it wasn't my path. That's not who I wanted to be."
Rouse said he first played Pop Warner football as a 7-year-old and that helped him elude the violence. He said his passion for football gave him options, something he admits not all young people have.
As a kid in Newark, crimes occurred all around Rouse. He doesn't share those stories with everyone, just teammates and coaches.
Lavan hears the stories often. In such cases, Lavan isn't a coach. He's a counselor.
"I don't want them to dwell on it," Lavan said. "Emotionally, they've rallied around one another. We mentioned it to the kids. We paid our initial respects. But we have to keep moving."
Lavan has dealt with violent crime since he came to DSU in January 2004.
In June 2004, football player DaShaun Morris was charged with first-degree attempted murder in the shooting of teammate Will Jones. Jones survived and Morris was sentenced to six months in jail as part of a plea agreement.
Lavan also is familiar with Newark, N.J. He moved there from a small Florida town to live with his uncle in the mid-1960s. He attended what is now Malcolm X Shabazz High School in the city before playing football at Colorado State. He never returned to New Jersey to live.
Despite spending several years in Newark, Lavan doesn't recall the city as being dangerous.
"I didn't perceive Newark as a more violent place," Lavan said. "I knew it could be, like anywhere, but I didn't perceive it as more violent.
"I don't know [about the DSU murders]. I can't even process that in my mind."
The Aug. 4 killings claimed the lives of Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20. They were the 58th, 59th and 60th homicide victims of 2007 in Newark.
Five arrests have been made in connection with the killings. On Saturday, two more arrests were made in the case, including that of Rodolfo Godinez, a 24-year-old immigrant from Nicaragua who was found in Oxon Hill, Md. He is described as a "principal player."
The lone survivor, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, sister of Terrance Aeriel, remains in a Newark hospital.
Rouse understands that the victims were a lot like him, trying to attend college and become better people in the process. Still, he said he believes the murders are a product of the environment.
"It's a mentality," he said. "It's a mind-set. But if you can go to school, you can escape that kind of stuff. But when you go back, it's all the same."
When his football career is over, Rouse wants to return to Newark to help young kids who, like himself, just need positive influences. Rouse volunteers at a Newark Boys & Girls Club in his free time.
Maybe something good will come of this, Rouse said. Then again, the price remains high.
"It shouldn't take a death to get things changed," Rouse said. "This incident doesn't change who I am, or who anyone is."
It is, after all, his home.
"Just a couple of blocks," said Rouse of how close he lived to Mount Vernon School. "I went by there a lot."
Rouse, a senior defensive lineman at DSU, attended nearby Martin Luther King Elementary School in Newark and then West Side High before earning a scholarship with the Hornets.
Rouse, who did not know any of the victims, hasn't enjoyed seeing his hometown in the national spotlight under these circumstances. The murders have made Newark a symbol of the desperate need to end senseless violence across the nation.
"It hits home," he said. "Man, even a hard look can get you killed."
The murders also brought home a fact not lost on Rouse and Hornets football coach Al Lavan: Many student-athletes grow up around violence and pursue an athletic scholarship with the hope they can earn a degree and escape the life they knew in their youth.
And federal statistics demonstrate that black men are most susceptible to violent crime, which makes athletic programs at historically black colleges particularly crucial for many students.
"They go through so many things," Lavan said. "Some of the things these kids talk about would blow your mind." A recent study published by the U.S. Justice Department showed that in 2005, 49 percent of murder victims were black and from age 17 to 29. Black residents account for less than 15 percent of the nation's population.
It's no surprise, Lavan said, why players from violent areas like Newark, N.J., feel a connection under the worst of circumstances.
The murders, Rouse said, were a vivid reminder of what he left behind. But he said football and fate were his path to beating the statistics.
"I used to think about that kind of lifestyle all the time when I was younger," Rouse said. "Football saved me. That life, it wasn't my path. That's not who I wanted to be."
Rouse said he first played Pop Warner football as a 7-year-old and that helped him elude the violence. He said his passion for football gave him options, something he admits not all young people have.
As a kid in Newark, crimes occurred all around Rouse. He doesn't share those stories with everyone, just teammates and coaches.
Lavan hears the stories often. In such cases, Lavan isn't a coach. He's a counselor.
"I don't want them to dwell on it," Lavan said. "Emotionally, they've rallied around one another. We mentioned it to the kids. We paid our initial respects. But we have to keep moving."
Lavan has dealt with violent crime since he came to DSU in January 2004.
In June 2004, football player DaShaun Morris was charged with first-degree attempted murder in the shooting of teammate Will Jones. Jones survived and Morris was sentenced to six months in jail as part of a plea agreement.
Lavan also is familiar with Newark, N.J. He moved there from a small Florida town to live with his uncle in the mid-1960s. He attended what is now Malcolm X Shabazz High School in the city before playing football at Colorado State. He never returned to New Jersey to live.
Despite spending several years in Newark, Lavan doesn't recall the city as being dangerous.
"I didn't perceive Newark as a more violent place," Lavan said. "I knew it could be, like anywhere, but I didn't perceive it as more violent.
"I don't know [about the DSU murders]. I can't even process that in my mind."
The Aug. 4 killings claimed the lives of Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20. They were the 58th, 59th and 60th homicide victims of 2007 in Newark.
Five arrests have been made in connection with the killings. On Saturday, two more arrests were made in the case, including that of Rodolfo Godinez, a 24-year-old immigrant from Nicaragua who was found in Oxon Hill, Md. He is described as a "principal player."
The lone survivor, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, sister of Terrance Aeriel, remains in a Newark hospital.
Rouse understands that the victims were a lot like him, trying to attend college and become better people in the process. Still, he said he believes the murders are a product of the environment.
"It's a mentality," he said. "It's a mind-set. But if you can go to school, you can escape that kind of stuff. But when you go back, it's all the same."
When his football career is over, Rouse wants to return to Newark to help young kids who, like himself, just need positive influences. Rouse volunteers at a Newark Boys & Girls Club in his free time.
Maybe something good will come of this, Rouse said. Then again, the price remains high.
"It shouldn't take a death to get things changed," Rouse said. "This incident doesn't change who I am, or who anyone is."
It is, after all, his home.
No comments:
Post a Comment