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My Testimony As A Black Man


Saturday, June 27, 2020 || LETTERS || @maywoodnews 

In 1988, I moved from my hometown of Maywood to the small town of Big Rapids, Michigan to attend Ferris State University on a wrestling scholarship. I had a mixture of emotions — from excitement to fear.

I was both afraid and excited about leaving my hometown after two years of wrestling at Triton Community College and finally becoming my own man. 

Other than visiting the campus my sophomore season at Triton, I didn’t know much about Ferris State. Since we didn’t have internet access, I was limited to information that was provided by the admissions office and the university’s head wrestling coach, Jim Miller.

After my family helped me unload my personal items in Henderson Hall, they hugged me good-bye and I was suddenly by myself on a hot August afternoon in tiny Big Rapids. As I walked into town to grab a bite to eat, I received a few stares from a group of whispering Black boys, who appeared to be college students.

I didn’t care what they were whispering, I only cared about why they were staring. Where I come from, staring at someone means you might want to do something. A few weeks later, I found out from Ken Hankins, a college buddy I met my first night in town, that those guys were students from Detroit. They recognized me from the local paper as an incoming student- athlete from Chicago and wanted to “test me.”

Needless to say, Ken, who was also from Detroit and apparently respected on campus, confronted the guys and warned that anyone who bothered me had to deal with him first. Needless to say, those guys never bothered me and I learned that a few of them were in the Omega Phi Si Fraternity. We became pretty cool and actually hung out a few times, especially during the Bulls vs. Pistons rivalry.

Fast forward to the wrestling season. Ferris State was ranked number one in the nation in Division II NCAA. I was the new recruit, the only Black man on a team of 60 white wrestlers, who would help Ferris win the school’s first national championship in any sport.

Everyone was excited about my arrival. Tim Powers was the 126-pounder from the previous season and he helped them to a top-10 national finish. Although I came from two strong wrestling programs at Proviso East High School and Triton, it was obvious that some of my teammates either didn’t know or didn’t care about  my pedigree. I had to prove myself the minute I stepped onto the mat.

Regi Ratliff, bottom row far left, with his Ferris State teammates. | Photo provided 

My teammates watched me throughout practices. Because I was from the Chicago area, maybe they thought I might steal something when they turned their heads. Heck, I didn’t trust them, either! But Coach Miller, who was a 1988 Greco-Roman Olympic trials finalist, had confidence that I could handle the pressure. And the pressure was on!

Switching from a 16-week semester at Triton to a 10-week quarter was another brutal challenge. I began to get homesick. To deal with the personal challenges, I started to attend fraternity and sorority parties and hanging out at colleges in Detroit.

After I got a low GPA the first quarter, the coaching staff was afraid I would get kicked out of school. Maybe my fear was winning over my excitement. Would I even make it to begin the season? Was joining a team that was ranked pre-season number one too much pressure?

The school sent a probation letter to my parents in Maywood and I was also afraid of getting kicked out. Some of my teammates were nodding when they saw our GPAs on the wrestling wall. In their mind, they weren’t surprised with my academic performance. But I didn’t need a tutor, I needed to refocus.

Thanks to Gary Waters, the assistant men’s basketball coach and academic adviser, I was able to get back on track with a 3.7 GPA the following quarter.

I remember vividly during my team challenge match against Tim Powers ((top row, second from the left holding team trophy) at 126 pounds, it appeared that everyone was rooting for Powers, the previous season’s starter at that weight class. Most wrestlers didn’t think I would be around much longer, so why even have a challenge match?

But I beat Powers like he stole something from me, got my grades up and went on to become the first Black All-American wrestler and captain in Ferris State History. Our team also placed second in the nation my junior year and sixth in the nation my senior year. Most importantly, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management — on time!

The major lesson my teammates learned was that I took my role as a student-athlete seriously. Regardless of where I came from, I was a proud Black man who never gave up and overcame racial barriers. 

— Rev. Dr. Regi Ratliff, a Maywood native, is the founder and chairman of Eternal Light Community Services

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