Robert "Bob" C. Hawkes was a Springfield College alumni, who was an inspiration to many he met. He was a very accomplished multi-sport athlete throughout his life and worked incredibly hard to overcome a spinal cord injury from a tragic accident. It was said of Mr. Hawkes that "Adversity shrivels the very soul of some men. Of others, it makes giants."
Among his many accomplishments, Bob is a member of National Wheelchair Athletic Association Hall of Fame, Sports Hall of Fame of Maine, New England Wheelchair Athletic Hall of Fame, Athletic Hall of Fame of Springfield College and North Yarmouth Athletic Hall of Fame. Bob competed in the 1959 and 1960 National Wheelchair Games in Flushing, NY. He won three swimming events and was selected to the first U.S. Wheelchair Team to compete in the International Stoke-Mandeville Games - later the Paralympics - in Rome, Tokyo and Israel. He continued to compete at the master's level in various sports for many years and he also competed in wheelchair road racing until the age of 78 and Hobie Cat regattas at the Rudder Club, Jacksonville, FA.
Bob was also recognized for his desire to help others with different abilities. He served as a mentor and peer counselor to many individuals with spinal cord and head injuries. He felt that people in similar circumstances to his own were "lost souls" and decided to do something about it. Robert created and served as president of the Maine Paraplegia Association and Wheelchair Confined. He was also the director of the Bangor Regional Speech and Hearing Center for 16 years before moving to Florida, where he was a speech therapist at Alden Road School, Jacksonville, FA.
The Robert C. Hawkes '47 Endowed Scholarship is designed to aid students with a preference given to students with disabilities, including, but not limited to, students restricted to wheelchairs. Criteria for this scholarship include:
- Be a person who receives SC Grant monies
- Be willing to be identified as someone who learns differently or as a person with a disability