{"id":4269,"date":"2025-02-20T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T09:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=4269"},"modified":"2025-02-20T15:05:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T15:05:16","slug":"craddock-honors-his-heritage-with-philanthropy-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=4269","title":{"rendered":"Craddock honors his heritage with philanthropy, service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SIU Donor Story: Oyd Craddock\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xxIqEvM0fSQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Jeff Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oyd Craddock knows firsthand how one opportunity can lead to a lifetime of success. That\u2019s what he\u2019s hoping to accomplish through his support of Southern Illinois University students.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3953\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3953\" style=\"width: 198px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3953\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/c1da6efe-3d89-4c6f-968c-e674365fe191-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Oyd Craddock\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/c1da6efe-3d89-4c6f-968c-e674365fe191-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/c1da6efe-3d89-4c6f-968c-e674365fe191.jpg 528w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3953\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oyd Craddock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a first-generation college graduate. I didn\u2019t have role models in my home or community of folks who had gone on to graduate from college,\u201d he said. \u201cI was a kid in the 1960s. The opportunities for us in the Deep South, they just weren\u2019t there. I was part of the generation that was going to break through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He credits his grandfather for pushing him toward education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe original inspiration for giving back comes from my upbringing,\u201d he said. \u201cMy grandfather was a champion for us focusing on getting a great education. When I got my degree, my grandparents came to Carbondale to attend my graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Craddock \u201980 led a stout Salukis defense in the late-70s. He was inducted into the Saluki Hall of Fame in 2004. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in management from the College of Business. He is a Saluki Hall of Fame football player and member of the SIU Foundation Board of Directors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got connected to SIU through our sports program. I was a scholarship athlete at SIU and made the decision to major in business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Experiences he had at SIU led him directly to a fulfilling career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worked for IBM for 31 years, and I was able to get started there with the assistance of the SIU Placement Office. They helped me with my r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and interviews, and the director sent a letter of recommendation to IBM and other companies,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom start to finish, I had a wonderful experience at SIU.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He attended New Orleans\u2019 St. Augustine High School in the 1970s. His high school\u2019s football team famously integrated the Louisiana High School Athletic Association in 1967. Craddock later decided to produce a film about the journey of the team\u2019s coaches and players during that time, titled <a href=\"https:\/\/beforethewestcoast.com\/the-film\">\u201cBefore the West Coast: A Sports Civil Rights Story.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3952 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/d0ebb5f7-9023-4c3a-8f2e-03a2b8cc5374-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Before the West Coast\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/d0ebb5f7-9023-4c3a-8f2e-03a2b8cc5374-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/d0ebb5f7-9023-4c3a-8f2e-03a2b8cc5374-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/d0ebb5f7-9023-4c3a-8f2e-03a2b8cc5374.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis film is really a part of my life story,\u201d Craddock said. \u201cIt tells the story of the trials and triumphs of the all-Black, boys\u2019 Catholic high school that integrated the all-white athletic league in Louisiana. It was a breakthrough event to have integrated competition in sports in high schools back then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All of this has led Craddock to see the impact that Black alumni can have by giving back to Southern.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has tremendous meaning for Black students who are there today and who we hope will experience SIU in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the things I\u2019m very excited about is that I lived to see the day \u2026 our chancellor is a Black man \u2026 the dean of the business school that I attended is a Black man \u2026 and I\u2019m here being a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more or make a gift, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/siuf.org\">siuf.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jeff Wilson Oyd Craddock knows firsthand how one opportunity can lead to a lifetime of success. That\u2019s what he\u2019s hoping to accomplish through his support of Southern Illinois University students. \u201cI\u2019m a first-generation college graduate. I didn\u2019t have role models in my home or community of folks who had gone on to graduate from &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=4269\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Craddock honors his heritage with philanthropy, service<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,17,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-stories","category-saluki-athletics","category-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4270,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4269\/revisions\/4270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}