Where Are They Now: Dan Stewart
6/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 15, 2011
This article was originally published in the May 21 edition of Gold Rush.
In each issue of Gold Rush, "Where Are They Now" features a former Wake Forest student-athlete. This issue features Dan Stewart, a former baseball player.
When did you graduate from Wake Forest?
I graduated from undergraduate school in 1978 and returned to earn my MBA in 1982. It was also the year I had to grow up and change my name from Butch to Dan.
What was you major?
Business Administration
What does being a Demon Deacon mean to you?
As a Demon Deacon, you know that you are part of something larger than just our University. Wake Forest alums are loyal, passionate and committed to Wake Forest achieving the highest levels of academic and athletic excellence. Although it isn't always easy to be a Demon Deacon, the successes are special. Who can forget that special day in Jacksonville, Fla., when our guys became the 2006 ACC Football Champions? Those memories will last a lifetime.
Why are you still involved in Wake Forest Athletics?
Wake Forest is a special place where the good guys wear black and the smallest school in the BCS competes for championships. There is something special about a Wake Forest football Saturday. The day starts slowly with friends and tailgating and grows into frenzy when they "open the gate." Recent improvements to BB&T Field have made "game day" even better, but having a pregame drink on the Bridger Field House balcony remains a unique, Wake Forest experience.
Why do you feel it is important to give back to the University?
Large, public universities have great resources and alumni networks to support them. With Wake Forest, you know that we have fewer folks to create the difference. This means that each of us is important to the University's mission.
I am reminded that I landed my first job, because John Rosser chose to help a fellow Wake Forest graduate. He was also the first person who talked to me about giving back to Wake.
What is your current occupation?
After a 29-year banking career that includes business banking and serving as a market president for a community bank, I recently joined Credit Risk Management in Raleigh. Credit Risk Management works with community banks to teach lending skills, evaluate loan portfolios and perform due diligence examinations for investors. I have a commitment through this position to help community banks grow stronger in order to help their local communities prosper. Banking has been a difficult challenge over the past few years, but it is rewarding to work as part of the solution.
What is your favorite memory of your time at Wake Forest?
I would like to say that my favorite memory was an academic achievement , such as receiving a handwritten letter from Dr. Felton, Dean of The Babcock Graduate School of Management. Truthfully, my favorite memory remains the spring day in 1975 when I wore a Wake Forest baseball uniform for the first time and singled against Guilford College.
What makes you most proud of Wake Forest?
It is gratifying to watch the school's academic reputation grow and witness athletic success. However, the friendships I made over the years have stood the test of time. I enjoy keeping up with folks, following their success and knowing that Wake Forest alumni are doing great things in their communities. It is our Wake Forest people who make me most proud of our institution.
When you come back to Wake Forest, you always...
Take time to visit with friends. Leslie, my wife, has always been impressed with the long lasting friendships of my fraternity brothers and their families. For the most part, this has converted her from a die-hard Tar Heel to a Demon Deacon. On a Saturday afternoon in the fall of the year, she looks a lot better in gold and black than pale blue.
I was at Wake Forest when...
Reggie Sadler/Janice was the best band around, but Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts were always playing somewhere. ESPN didn't exist, but everyone watched the Atlanta Braves on cable. Personal computers weren't around yet, but we knew how to program with punch cards. It was inevitable that you would drop your cards just before you turned them in on a big project. ... Scott Hoch was emerging as the new leader on our dominating golf team, and the 1977 men's basketball team had an exciting run to the Elite 8. ... Wake Forest committed to a quality baseball program and won a conference championship in 1977.
Who is your favorite coach at Wake Forest, current or past?
Jim Grobe and Skip Prosser lifted the school's athletic profile to great heights, but sometimes we remember coaches for other reasons. Beattie Feathers was an amazing athlete and a good man. When I was a high school senior, my dad and I visited Wake and met the baseball coach for lunch. When Dad learned that the coach was Beattie Feathers, he was so excited that I almost didn't get another opportunity to speak. Dad grew up in Tennessee and knew Coach Feathers as an All-American football player for the Volunteers and the first man in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards. Coach Feathers was also an outstanding baseball player.
Coach Feathers was a unique character who came up with clever sayings, such as "I need half of you over there, half of you over there and half of you over there." "If everybody gets a hit, everybody will have a hit." He once told a group of us about the time his professional baseball team played the Whiteville One-Armed Wonders. When we asked who won, he just grinned.