Page 9 - Salesianum - Distinguished Gentleman - Summer 2020

Donald has given more than 200 invited academic lectures and public conferences at esteemed institutions including Johns Hopkins, Wake Forest, Berlin’s John F. Kennedy Institute, University of Oregon, Cornell, Rutgers, Purdue and Emory, among many others. He has been the chairman, member, delegate, or editor of more than 50 faculty advisory and strategic planning committees. Donald was the founding editor of the New Americanist Series at Duke University and a guest editor on a dozen academic journals.
In 2011, Donald was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa, by the Faculty of Languages at Uppsala University. In 2015, he was awarded the American Studies Association’s prestigious Bode-Pearson Prize for life-long service in American Studies.
Vincent F. Scott ’57
innie Scott is arguably the best athlete to play sports at Salesianum. Vinnie was a two-time All-State end in football, a two-year starter on the basketball team,
the power-hitting catcher on the baseball team as well as an occasional participant in field events on the track team when his schedule permitted. His lifelong fitness journey started as a child at the Jackson Street Boys and Girls Club. His roommate at the University of Maryland, Harry Manelski, said Vinnie lifted weights every day of his life. Vinnie was co-captain of the Blue team in the first Blue-Gold All Star game before he went off to Maryland. He was the second-ever college football player to kick three field goals in one game in 1959 and his 48-yard goal was a record in the Atlantic Coast Conference until 1979. His kicking talent and aggressive defensive play
earned him a roster spot with the Baltimore Colts, but later, when he was traded to the Washington Redskins, he decided not to become a football nomad and accepted an offer to join the Salesianum faculty. The Redskins’ loss was Delaware’s gain as Vinnie started a 45-year coaching career that allowed a couple of generations of high school athletes to benefit from his expertise and encouragement.
Vinnie was the head football coach at Delcastle Technical High School for seven years and was named Basketball Coach of the Year in 1972. Vinnie was the head basketball coach at Salesianum, Conrad, Glasgow and McKean high schools and he was head coach at St. Mark’s for 13 years, where he led his team to the state championship game three times. He was
the Blue Hen football coach of the year in 1987. During the summer months, Vinnie was an important contributor to the Brooks Armored Car Semi-Pro Championship team. Vinnie was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and into the Delaware Legends Basketball Hall of Fame.
A sports writer once asked Vinnie if he preferred being
a head coach or assistant coach. Vinnie answered, “I started
my coaching career in 1961 and it never mattered if I was
head coach or assistant, because I love sports and working
with kids.” Vinnie was a Social Studies teacher who was
several credits shy of a doctoral degree. He treated his students with dignity and expected them to treat each other the same way. Vinnie was a devoted exercise enthusiast whose hardy appearance barely waned as he fought the sports-related Alzheimer’s disease that took his life. Faith and humility were his cornerstones, exemplified in one of his favorite sayings, “God’s gift to us is talent. What we do with it is our gift to God.”
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