{"id":4501,"date":"2023-02-10T17:12:33","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T17:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=4501"},"modified":"2025-02-07T03:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T08:27:07","slug":"wilmu-alumna-named-honorary-caption-for-superbowl-lvii-coin-toss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/10\/wilmu-alumna-named-honorary-caption-for-superbowl-lvii-coin-toss\/","title":{"rendered":"WilmU Alumna Named Honorary Captain for Superbowl LVII Coin Toss"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column4501_be9cbb-ab dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.kb-image4501_e697a4-3b .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image4501_e697a4-3b\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fabresha.flynt_-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-14818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fabresha.flynt_-1.jpg 400w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fabresha.flynt_-1-250x250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fabresha.flynt_-1-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"at-super-bowl-lvii-wilmu-alumna-fabersha-flynt-will-be-on-the-50yard-line-as-one-of-four-pat-tillman-scholarshonorary-team-captains-participating-in-the-coin-toss\">At Super Bowl LVII, WilmU alumna Fabersha Flynt will be on the 50-yard line as one of four <a href=\"https:\/\/pattillmanfoundation.org\/meet-our-scholars\/fabersha-flynt\/\">Pat Tillman Scholars<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KHKSXcmMvu8\">honorary team captains<\/a> participating in the coin toss.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HAsaPHpHrXg&amp;t=254s\">Tillman Scholarship<\/a> honors Cpl. Patrick Daniel Tillman Jr., a record-setting safety for the Arizona Cardinals who turned down a three-year, multi-million-dollar deal with the Cardinals to enlist in the U.S. Army after 9\/11. He was killed in action by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Tillman\u2019s family created the Pat Tillman Foundation, which, according to its website, \u201cidentifies remarkable military service members, veterans and spouses, empowering them with academic scholarships, lifelong leadership development opportunities and a diverse, global community of high-performing mentors and peers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flynt is one of those remarkable individuals. The executive director of Adult Education and Walton County Campus at Athens Technical College in Georgia, Flynt is the surviving spouse of Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Lewis, who was killed on March 13, 2006, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.&nbsp; After battling bouts of depression and anxiety, she created a scholarship in memory of her husband and founded an educational consulting firm that supports higher education institutions fostering learning environments that stress the importance of diversity and inclusion for marginalized students. Flynt earned her M.S. in Human Services at Wilmington University in 2018 and was awarded the Tillman Scholarship in 2021. She is pursuing a doctorate in Higher Education Administration at the University of Southern Mississippi. As stated on the <a href=\"https:\/\/pattillmanfoundation.org\/meet-our-scholars\/fabersha-flynt\/\">Pat Tillman Foundation website<\/a>, she \u201cwill use relevant scholarship and strategies to help give voice to the need for educational equality and its significance in providing \u2018liberty and justice for all\u2019 within higher education and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEach Tillman scholar is already distinguished long before they apply,\u201d says Flynt. \u201cMany scholars have dual or multiple terminal degrees, such as an M.D. and Ph.D. It\u2019s an entire process that includes numerous essays, interviews and assignments that take a great deal of time, energy and focus, which those who apply have been clearly shown to possess. Scholars also meet annually to put their minds and resourceful creativity to help with or resolve some of the country\u2019s biggest problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flynt says she\u2019s excited to be an honorary team captain. \u201cNFL Films came to my campus at the end of January to interview me on camera. From 8:30 a.m. until about 1 p.m., I was a celebrity. Then I had to go back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flynt flew to Arizona three days before the Superbowl to join other scholars and participate in media day and other festivities. But amid the excitement, she thinks of her husband, knowing that without his sacrifice, she would not have had this opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\u2019ll carry something of his to the field, perhaps his Purple Heart, dog tags, or brigade coin. \u201cI know Bryan will be with me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Super Bowl LVII, WilmU alumna Fabersha Flynt will be on the 50-yard line as one of four Pat Tillman Scholars&nbsp;honorary team captains participating in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":14818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[145,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-events"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":145,"label":"ALUMNI NEWS"},{"value":68,"label":"EVENTS"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fabresha.flynt_-1.jpg",400,400,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Marchione","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/rachel\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":145,"name":"ALUMNI NEWS","slug":"alumni-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":702,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":113,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":145,"category_count":113,"category_description":"","cat_name":"ALUMNI NEWS","category_nicename":"alumni-news","category_parent":0},{"term_id":68,"name":"EVENTS","slug":"events","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":625,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":45,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":68,"category_count":45,"category_description":"","cat_name":"EVENTS","category_nicename":"events","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14819,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501\/revisions\/14819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}