Where Are They Now: Jim Snyder
12/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2010
This article was originally published in Gold Rush.
In each issue, "Where Are They Now" features former Wake Forest student-athletes. This issue features former men's basketball player and tennis player, James E. Snyder, Jr. The day before he was scheduled to report to UNC as a Morehead Scholar and basketball player, Snyder chose to transfer to Wake Forest where he played basketball for the legendary Bones McKinney.
Jim is now an attorney in Lexington, N.C., where he has practiced since 1970. In addition to his law practice, Snyder is an accomplished author who recently published his latest book, "Bones, Dean & Me: A Tobacco Road Recruit." Snyder is generously donating all royalties from the book, which was released in September, to the Deacon Club.
When did you graduate from Wake Forest?
I graduated from Wake Forest College in 1967 and from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 1970.
What was you major?
My undergraduate major was History.
What does being a Demon Deacon mean to you?
Wake Forest in every sense has always been and always will be family. My uncle Everett Snyder initiated the college bookstore during the mid 1920s and managed it until approximately 1964 on the new campus. My father graduated from Wake Forest College and later from its school of law in the 1930s and worked at his brother's bookstore. My parents met in that store. During the same period, three of my first cousins graduated from the undergraduate school and the law school.
My mother and father were reared on farms in the Baptist communities respectively of Olivie Chapel Baptist in Wake County and Reeds Baptist in Davidson County. Being Baptists in those days was synonymous with being of Wake Forest. I was but 6 years of age and several feet from President Harry Truman when he dug the first spade of dirt on a knoll in Forsyth to signal the rebirth of a great college.
Our children and now our grandchildren are being reared as Demon Deacons. When we "delivered" our first child to Wake Forest as a student, it was like leaving her at Grandma's house. I trusted my alma mater to care for our daughter and to assist her in enjoying the same experiences and securities provided to me.
Why are you still involved in Wake Forest Athletics?
Because of the past family history, some of my earliest memories are of Wake Forest athletics. In 1950, I attended a Wake Forest vs. Duke football game on the old campus. On visiting the old campus, the same uncle gave to me the gift of a Demon Deacon helmet, which I wore on our ninth-grade high school team.
I watched Dickie Hemric, Lefty Davis, Preacher Parker, Billy Ray Barnes, Pete Manning, Bob Bartholomew, Tom Swatzel, Norman Snead and Brian Piccolo throughout my years at Wake Forest. I have missed but a few Wake Forest basketball and football games since graduation.
I confess to being among those who cannot quite emotionally live through televised Deacon games. I must either be there or watch replays after victories!
Why do you feel it is important to give back to the University?
Being a Wake Forest student and athlete was rigorous. Eighteen hours of Latin, history of political philosophy, the sciences, the all-nighters while playing two variety sports and the pace required to gain law school admission and survive the rigors of the law was the best training any young man or woman could possibly receive. President Tribble spoke of the Wake Forest Tradition and the Wake Forest Family. He spoke of the Wake Forest Education. Decades are required to appreciate and understand the wisdom of this philosophical man and the many other extraordinary men and women who accepted us from our homes as their children to be edified in the finest traditions of the Baptists, the Deacons and of the people of North Carolina.
It is simply impossible to give back enough for the wealth of experience gained on our beautiful campus. Further, it is impossible to repay for the economic success with which many have been blessed emanating directly from our Wake Forest Education.
What is your favorite memory of your time at Wake Forest?
I loved to go to Chapel...because for those two hours a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it meant we did not have to study. I so much enjoyed the programs from the devotions to the pep rallies. At how many Division One schools can the entire student body gather in one magnificent building weekly to be further molded in the fond traditions of our gold and black community?
What makes you most proud of Wake Forest?
Wake Forest has taught us to achieve, while at the same time Wake Forest has always moved onward and upward to a higher position nationally both in academics and athletics. When I was at Wake Forest, none of us knew how excellent she was. Now the nation and even the world knows. I am proud because Wake Forest has not allowed any force to effect change which would serve as a departure for her mission of "Pro Humanitate." A Wake Forest education is a classical education without exception. As an athlete, we were not shown any quarter. There were no classes in which to hide. We studied and "suffered" with the student body through educational challenges available only at the premier national institutions of higher learning.
When you come back to Wake Forest, you always...
I always go back to the place I made my decision to attend Wake Forest. I had just watched the football team pass me by after a late-summer practice, the day before I was to report to UNC as a student and an athlete. I had a wonderful conversation with Jesse Haddock about things in general. As he left, I looked over to Kitchin Dorm and then left to the law school and behind me to the gym where I would practice and to the tennis courts on which I would play, and I said to myself, "I'm staying here."
I walked by that same place of my decision in November of that year and heard the rumor that President Kennedy had been shot. The troubling news was confirmed in my room a few minutes later and that began the weekend of our national tragedy as we all watched in horror that the real world could be cruel and was not far away from our campus. I knew that we must be prepared spiritually, mentally and emotionally to face the realities of life.
Who is your favorite coach at Wake Forest, current or past?
That is an easy one. Jack Murdock was tough. He was an All-American at Wake Forest. After having initially enrolled at North Carolina, I knew that he would require more of me. I worked as hard as I could even though I could not play my freshman year because I had transferred. I wanted to gain his respect, and I hope that I did. After Coach (Bones) McKinney left in my sophomore year, Coach Murdock was there again for us. The 1965-66 season was difficult, but we were bound together around our coach who loved Wake Forest and hated all others. He was tough, so we had to be tough. I am happy and proud today to call him my friend.