Brittany Bott / Staff Photographer / bb211605@ohiou.edu

Former coach Herman Boone spoke on accomplishing true diversity at Baker Center last night. Boone led the integration of his high school football team in Alexandria, Va., in 1971.

Baker University Center Ballroom filled with students, athletes, faculty and Athens residents last night as the legendary Coach Herman Boone spoke about diversity and bringing Ohio University’s campus together.

Boone was head coach of the 1971 T.C. Williams High School Titans in Alexandria, Va., when the school decided to integrate. He led his team to the state championship and “brought together a city torn by apart by racism and hatred,” he said.

Brought down by University Program Council, Boone was portrayed by Academy Award winner Denzel Washington in the movie Remember the Titans.

"Everywhere people are learning about diversity and Ohio University is making great strides to improve diversity on campus,” said Khalei Fogle, UPC public relations chair. Boone will give OU students suggestions on how to come together, she said.

Boone opened the speech by explaining how people never define diversity correctly.

"Diversity is not about the color of your skin tone,” he said. “It’s about who you are as an individual.”

He connected this to his experience as head coach of the Titans.

"Amid all those conflicts, we found a way to put all of our differences aside, and we molded these young boys into a dynamic football team,” he said.

"I told my team ‘we must find ways to talk to each other or we will, as Martin Luther King said, will flourish off the face of this earth,’” he said.

When he began coaching the Titans, Boone said he didn’t know what to expect.

"I didn’t know I was stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire,” Boone said. “Keeping them boys in line was something I thought I could not do. That made me work harder.”

Boone gave some key points on how to be a team and “embrace diversity.”

"You cannot have a team without communication, or you will just have a group of individuals,” he said. “The world needs more people to come out of their comfort zones to break down racial barriers.”

Boone wanted everyone who attended this lecture to “accept people for who they are, not what they look like.”

"If you have not yet begun to believe in and embrace diversity, get out of your comfort zone and talk to people different from you,” he said.