Jerry Venable was the first Black student athlete at Ferrum College. Recruited by Coach Jim Hartbarger, Venable arrived on campus as a seventeen-year-old trailblazer in 1968. He recalls how his mother kissed him and sent him on his way saying, ‘Son, go make a name for yourself. This is all I can give you. I don’t have money. I don’t have nothing to give you, but this [kiss] and God.” Venable was an All-American and went on to play at Kansas State University before embarking on a career with the Harlem Globetrotters.
He credits Coach Jim Hartbarger for having the vision to bring Black athletes to the College and for creating an atmosphere where he was welcomed and supported. “Jim Hartbarger was probably one of the greatest pathfinders for Ferrum as far as us black athletes because he told Dr. Arthur, the College president at the time, ‘I’m going to bring Ferrum the best Black athlete in the state of Virginia’.”
“It happened so rapidly. One minute I’m in high school with all my friends and the next minute, I’m on my way to college out of my junior year. It took me by surprise because I didn’t think I had College in me. I was looking to go into the Army to be a MP and come back to be the first Black cop in my hometown. That was my goal then and dream. All of a sudden, college basketball and college came up.”
“Of course, it was a culture shock when I got there. But, nevertheless, I persevered. I didn’t know anybody, and I didn’t see anybody of color but me and the people that worked at the cafeteria. I was scared. I wouldn’t worry about too much of this stuff other than I had no friends. I had nobody. But, the basketball players, I take my hat off to those guys. They treated me just like their brother. Rick Howell, he was my roommate, John Penn, Mike Shannie and a couple of football players – Keith Fisher and Ron Campbell, Gary Yeoman, Freddy Dunnings, and Ricky Ferguson. Those guys, that was my group. They were quick to become friends and to help me to adjust to where I was.”
“Ferrum gave me a big boost in my life. A great boost in my life, as a matter of fact. What Junior in high school gets a chance to come and lead a college team – whether junior college team or major college – to the Hutchinson national tournament? And I tell you what, I was 17, probably the youngest player on the team, but I was a bad mamma jamma!”
In Fall 2022, fellow Ferrum alumnus Everett Foxx ‘92 hosted a gathering of Ferrum Men’s Basketball Alumni during Homecoming Weekend. He focused on making sure pioneers and leaders in the program over the years were present. Key among them, Mr. Jerry Venable.
Foxx shared how he had first heard of Venable in the late 1980’s when he was a student. “I heard stories about Jerry Venable when I was here. I’d asked about former players. Speaking with a number of people, not only on campus, but even in the Franklin County community, who had been around for some time. They talked about how Jerry Venable was one of the best that ever played if not the best that ever played at Ferrum and an African American player who played at Ferrum during the time where he was the only one.”
Foxx reflected on the impact Venable’s legacy had on him and his belief in the importance of continuing to share such experiences. “I didn’t meet nearly as many challenges as Jerry. Obviously by the time I arrived in 1988, things had changed; the student population had changed. To hear his story about Ferrum, some of it really resonated with me, and we both still have the same passion for Ferrum and the Ferrum community. We love the College; we love what it did for us. That’s what Jerry and I have in common. I was very inspired by his story, and I think history should be shared with all student athletes at Ferrum, not just Black students, but all students. I think they can all appreciate Jerry’s experience and where the College is today and how far the College has come. I think sharing Jerry’s story is only one example of our motto, “Not Self, But Others.”
The gathering Foxx organized packed the Norton Athletic Center Classroom demonstrating the relationship Venable clearly still has with so many of the men who were his contemporaries as well as those who followed in his footsteps. Venable shared his story with some of his fellow men’s basketball alumni and affirmed he is honored to have their legacy follow him. “I sent this down for him to be here to do, for him to do, for you to do, for him to do. When I started, I wasn’t broken up or beat up. I was in that position, and you know what I mean by position. You all know what that position was. I was the first black athlete here at Ferrum. I tell you what, it wasn’t bad, but it was bad. I shouldn’t have been the first one. Somebody should have been before me, but it was me.”
Venable says God equipped him to handle the adversity he faced. “God called me to do it, so I had to do it. I am grateful that God put in my spirit the mercy to put up with all of the stuff. Whatever I encountered, it didn’t bother me. Because you know what, I was on a mission.”
He encouraged his fellow alumni to help mentor and support the new generation of Ferrum athletes. “Looking at you all now, did I pass the torch to some great, great individuals? Absolutely! And we have to help this generation of players come up to our standards, and it’s not hard. We can do it. Because what? We are Ferrum Athletes. All of us, I don’t care where you go after that, you were a Ferrum athlete first, right? And where you went and made your name. Hey, Ferrum was attached to it.”
Speaking about what motivated him to be a pioneer he says he thought of others who might not have such an opportunity. “I didn’t do it for myself. I did it for all of the kids that were coming up in that era that didn’t have a chance like myself. I got lucky and got a chance. I could play basketball – that helped a lot. When you play on the winning team, you’ll be accepted quite freely. Nobody saw me as being Black, they saw me as a Ferrum Panther.”
Venable has advice for current students. “Study, learn, and be a be a friend to your neighbor. Friendship was a thing that got me through. Also, learn from somebody. I know it’s the robotic era, and you have a lot of tools to help you out – things that we didn’t have – computers or cell phones, but hold on the human humanistic insights and soul.”
