Garden City, N.Y. - A virtual 20th anniversary commemoration of Adelphi's Black History Month Celebration was held on President's Day among the Adelphi University community and its student-athletes on Zoom.

The keynote speaker was Ben Kenyon - a 2006 graduate of Adelphi and former men's basketball student-athlete who has ascended to the ranks of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.

A native of New Jersey, Kenyon has been on the NBA circuit since 2013. He previously spent seven years as a Performance Coach with the Portland Trail Blazers, before returning to the East Coast in 2020 in his current role with the Sixers.

Adelphi's Black History Month Celebration, now is in its milestone 20th year after being founded in 2002, annually welcomes back prominent student-athletes of color to campus to speak upon their experiences in cultivating an environment which promotes diversity and inclusion.

"We are very grateful to Ben Kenyon '06 for sharing his journey with our student-athletes and staff during our Black History Month event. As a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and one of the most progressive sports leagues in the world (NBA), Ben had great insight about the cross section of sports and social justice," said Adelphi Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation Danny McCabe. "We also benefited from his stories about the transition from being a student-athlete at Adelphi to following his passion and becoming a head strength coach in the NBA."

While he has spent the last nine years of his professional career working with such elite talent as Damian Lillard and Joel Embiid, Kenyon always recalls where he got his start.

He played four years (2002-06) under then-head coach James Cosgrove for the Panthers, who reached the NCAA Division II Tournament three times in his tenure at Adelphi. Across 110 games, Kenyon collected 500 career points and 234 rebounds, in addition to 71 steals and 14 blocks.

"We had so much support. People outside of the basketball team, from tutors to administrators, like Maggie (Yoon-Grafer) being able to walk us through what life was going to look like after basketball. She helped me clean my act up," Kenyon reminisced. "There were a lot of resources that I felt were necessary for us, as athletes, us as young men, that we needed to really prepare for what's out there in the real world."

As a junior, Kenyon felt that basketball had taken him as far as he could go. Yet, it was still fueling his future.

"If I wasn't going to play, I was going to coach and help athletes be the best that they could possibly be," Kenyon said when he realized that strength and conditioning was a career path he could pursue.

With the support of his teammates and coaches, Kenyon designed the preseason workout program his junior and senior years at Adelphi. That experience led to the opportunity of a graduate assistantship at George Washington University, and later, an internship at the University of Florida.

His journey would take him back to GW, where he spent five years (2008-13) overseeing its strength and conditioning program in a full-time role as Assistant Athletic Director. 

It was only a couple of years ago that life struck a blow. He was diagnosed with a heart aneurysm. Thus, Kenyon founded the Great Day Squad.

The Great Day Squad is a personal development program that was started to lead workshops on helping people improve their mind and body.

"I had to kind of change my life, I started to just run, go for nice slow jogs, and on Instagram, I would share a picture and I would tag 'Great Day for a Run' and people started to actually re-post that, not knowing where it was from, not knowing what it was about, and that's where the movement actually started."

"Great Day Squad is something that started with my heart, but I know I want to now utilize this platform to inspire and help people across the world."

The conversation then opened up to a dialogue on social justice, highlighted by the NBA's global efforts to eliminate racism.

"There's more (of a diverse) representation than ever in the NBA -- from strength and conditioning to head coaches to just coaching in general. Over the last nine years, it's definitely improved and it's just the process. I think the biggest thing, when it comes to sports is that, as we continue to evolve and grow, we understand that this is just part of the process. I think, sometimes, we want everything to happen now and immediately, but I think time means everything."

When asked how we can continue to make progress in the fight against social injustice, Kenyon replied: "We have to provide the best resources and educate ourselves as much as possible. Don't be afraid of good dialogue in that space that will allow everyone to grow."

"We're coming a long, long way in our history in this country of dealing with all the negative things we have dealt with," Kenyon concluded.