Bill Friday, president emeritus of the University of North Carolina and co-founder of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, died on Oct. 12. To honor his legacy, Knight Foundation is giving $25,000 to a scholarship fund in his name. 

Here, Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen shares his remembrances.

Bill Friday has died.  As we commend his soul to the tender mercies of his Creator, let us resolve to remember him and honor that memory by resolving to never forget the lessons of an amazing life of service and commitment to principle.

He was an essential educator who understood “student-athlete” as an ideal to teach both discipline and values. He was a fearless lover of truth and a defender of free speech and engagement of community in solving problems. And even those of us who knew him less could not help but be charmed by his sharp and gently used sense of humor. 

Bill was Creed Black’s inspiration for the creation of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.  He and his co-chair, Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, were essential to its success.

Anyone who knew him, who benefitted from his leadership in education and in North Carolina, and all of us at Knight Foundation, shall be forever grateful.

More information about Bill Friday and his legacy is available via the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.