Media Advisory: UB to formally name Willie Evans Quad on Friday

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The story of UB’s 1958 football team and its star running back will live on in name when the university unveils a plaque and formally renames Porter Quad the “Willie R. Evans Quadrangle” during a ceremony on Friday at the residence hall.

The quad’s name change recognizes Evans, the late UB student-athlete and longtime educator in the Buffalo Public Schools.

Evans was a star running back and one of only two Black players on UB’s historic 1958 football team that unanimously agreed to decline an invitation to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando because Evans and teammate Mike Wilson would have been barred from playing.

Evans, who graduated from UB in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, also served as president of the UB Alumni Association and was the recipient of the Community Leadership Medal, the Distinguished Alumni Award, the Russell J. Gugino Award and, along with his football teammates, the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal, UB’s highest honor.

When: 11 a.m., Friday, Sept. 30

Where: Evans Lounge Room 241, Evans Quadrangle, in the Ellicott Complex on the North Campus in Amherst. Upon arrival to campus, guests are asked to park in the Red Jacket Lot and follow the blue and white flags along the building to Building 6. There will be a sign and staff member at the door.

Who: Speakers will include President Satish K. Tripathi;  Roberta “Bobbie” Evans, Evans’ widow; Brian F. Hamluk, vice president for student life; Mark Alnutt, vice president and director of athletics; Evans’ teammate Fred Kogut, BA ’60, EdM ’65; and Student Association President Becky Paul-Odionhin.