Calvin Hill’s Return to Riverdale: An Exclusive Interview with The Riverdale Review

On May 15, the Hill Campus had the privilege of meeting Mr. Calvin Hill, a NFL-champion linebacker, social activist, and, perhaps most importantly, Riverdale alum. As a member of the Class of 1965, Mr. Hill discussed the importance that his Riverdale education had in developing his passions both on and off the field. Through this article, we not only hope to debrief Mr. Hill’s incredible talk, but also highlight gems from a personal conversation that The Riverdale Review had with him after the assembly.

On the Importance of Education:

I get very, very emotional when I come back to Riverdale. You need to understand – you saw a picture of my mother and father – my father was illiterate when he married my mother. She taught him how to read and write and I can imagine how that opened his world. All of a sudden, he could read street signs. He could read the newspaper. He knew where he was, he could read what was happening.

And, so he was 20 or he was 19. I came along about 20 years later. I always tell people: I was not planned. I just sort of popped up. And one of my earliest memories is my father pointing to those encyclopedias, and telling me everything I needed to know was in those encyclopedias.

The Influence of His Father:

My father would always go to the PTA meetings, and I’d have to go with him. And he’d always want to be first in line. And he would always go up and say this, my name is Henry Hill, and this is my son, Calvin, and tell me what I need to do to help you educate him. What role do I have to play? And so education was very, very important in my family, and the eighth grade, and I was getting pretty good grades. And I mean, I was an honor student and in my eighth grade year, I didn’t have to take the finals, because my grades were so good.

But one day I walked in the house and in my kitchen – we lived in a four bedroom house, two bedrooms, two bedrooms and a kitchen and a living room – and in the kitchen was a doctor, Dr. Wayne, who had sent his son to Riverdale and he was telling my parents about an opportunity. There was a scholarship available there now. And they were looking for another kid. Ideally, a disadvantaged kid. I didn’t realize I was disadvantaged at the time, but they were looking for a kid from Baltimore.

The Decision:

The next morning, my father gone to work, and my mother was fixing breakfast. She said, “Have you thought about what we talk- ed about yesterday?” And I said, “Yeah, Mom, I thought about it all night. And you know what, I don’t want to go away from school. I’d like to stay here.” [Then,] that evening at dinner, my father [said,] “Well, have you thought more about what we talked about yesterday?” And I’m about to open my mouth and say, “I don’t want to go. And I thought about it: I don’t want to do this.” And he said yes, “I’m glad you thought about it, because we’re going to do it...So it was decided that I was going to apply for a scholarship to Riverdale. And I really didn’t want to do it.” But I did and I applied.

A Change of Tempo:

It was kind of cool because my neighborhood – the whole world – knew that I had won a scholarship to go to a prep school up north in New York and it was cool. People were just sort of singling me out, etc...until.. I had to leave Baltimore and come up to a river that was on the New Jersey Turnpike near Philadelphia...And as we got closer and closer to New York, I got more and more afraid.

And I remember when we were crossing the George Washing- ton Bridge and I looked down and that’s all Manhattan and just the enormity of Manhattan skyscrapers. I started wandering in the back. We got on the West Side Highway... and then we crossed that bridge into the Bronx. And I remember seeing a sign...and I just burst out crying. I told my father to turn around: “I can’t do this. I don’t want to go here.” He said, “No, don’t worry.” And [then] I got a treat with a local with a classmate of mine who was assigned to show me around. His first question was where are you gonna go to college? I was in eighth grade.

His Relationship with Coach Bertino:

He [said], “Are you an athlete?” I said, “Well, yes, sir. I’ll play baseball.” That was the only sport that I’ve really played. He said, “Have you ever played football?” I said “no, sir.” I played touch football. He brought me up to this floor...He brought me up to this gentleman and tossed the football around. I could catch the football and I could throw the football. But I’ve never played organized football. I’ve never put on a helmet or anything like that. And he said, “How come nobody told me about you?” I said, “Well, sir, I’m here on an academic scholarship. I’m not here to play sports.”