September 25, 2002

Alumnus, former trustee initiates
basketball, track scholarships

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Bill Hitch was just a senior at Indiana State Normal School in 1943 when Uncle Sam called.

A star basketball player for the Sycamores, there was no doubt in his mind where he belonged — in the Pacific serving his country.

“The patriotism and serving your country was more important [than playing basketball],” Hitch said recently during a telephone interview from his home in Evansville. “It was one of the most important things any of us could do. So I served in the Navy for 2 1/2 years.”

The importance of patriotism is as clear to Hitch today as it was nearly 60 years ago. And so is the importance of sportsmanship, competition and leadership.

That’s why Hitch is giving $200,000 to the “Continuing the Legacy” campaign for Sycamore Athletics at Indiana State University.

“I appreciate the importance of athletics and the education of our young men and women,” Hitch said. “I believe in the development of a competitive spirit, friendship, loyalty and leadership — those qualities that will make a well-rounded and successful life in the future.”

To help ISU student athletes, Hitch has established, through a trust, a William Hitch Men’s Basketball Scholarship and a track and field scholarship.

Hitch recalled playing basketball for then-ISU coach Glen M. Curtis, “one of the fine coaches of Indiana basketball,” Hitch said, adding that Curtis was the main reason he came to Indiana State.

Hitch, originally from Princeton, graduated from Indiana State in 1944. As a student, he was president and vice president of Delta Lambda Sigma and served as vice president of the I-Men club, Student Council and Blue Key. In addition to playing varsity basketball, he ran cross country. He also played freshmen basketball, served on the athletic board and student board of William Parsons Hall.

He was named Indiana Intercollegiate All-State Team guard and in 1943 recieved the Gimbel Award, which was awarded to the outstanding athlete of the year at Indiana State.

Hitch married his college sweetheart, Phyllis Brown, who was the director of Tirey Memorial Student Union in 1945 and 1946 after her graduation in 1944.

“She worked at the student union while I was in the service,” Hitch said. “We were married for 38 years until she passed away in 1982.”

They had two children, Rebecca Hitch and Richard C. Hitch, both alumni of ISU. He has been married to his second wife, Shirley, for the past 19 years.

Hitch served on the ISU Board of Trustees from 1969 to 1977. He was president of the board from 1972-73 and vice president from 1971-72 and again in 1974. He was secretary in 1970-71 and assistant secretary in 1969-70.

Hitch retired from his own meat packing business, Hitch Packing Co., in Princeton, in 1989. An avid golfer, he says he now lives on the second fairway of the Evansville Country Club.

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Contact:
The Office of University Development, (812) 237-3669.

Writer:
Jennifer Kearns, assistant director of public affairs
(812) 237-8037 or devkearn@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu