Girard College

Immigrant millionaire Stephen Girard's 1830 will has benefited generations of Pennsylvanians: students at Girard College, the free North Philadelphia boarding school his legacy still supports, and the lawyers who have been fighting over the will and Girard Estate funds since his death. The latest challenge will go before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday. Lawyers for the Girard Estate, which is administered by the Philadelphia Board of City Trusts, are fighting to protect its state tax exemptions.

Richard J. Watson Age: 67 Where ya from? Born in Badin, N.C., but came to Philly at age 11 and grew up at 21st and Master. What do you do? Artist, musician and exhibitions manager and artist-in-residence at the African American Museum in Philly. Why did you move to Philadelphia? "At age 8, I moved with my aunt from North Carolina to Queens, N.Y., for three years. [His mother died when he was 3.] When I was 11, my father remarried, and we moved to Philadelphia. " Historic ties? Member of the Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters protesters at Girard College.

Members of Teamsters Local 628, mostly drivers for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Inquirer, picketed Girard College yesterday on behalf of 75 employees - women who cook, serve meals, clean and do laundry for the students. The union says the Board of City Trusts, which administers the will of college founder Stephen Girard, has demanded that the women take a pay cut from $11 to $9 an hour.

Don P. Sheldon, the president of Girard College for the last two years, told school employees yesterday that he would resign at the end of the week, according to an officer of the union that represents teachers at the school. Sheldon made the announcement in a memo distributed to the school's faculty and staff, said John Kozempel, vice president of the union. Sheldon said in the memo that it was time for him to move on, but he did not say where he was going, according to Kozempel, who teaches history at the school.

AUTUMN Adkins Graves, the first African-American and first female president of Girard College, will leave the school in June, she said Tuesday. Graves, 39, presided over a difficult stretch for the private North Philadelphia boarding school founded by 19th-century merchant-banker Stephen Girard for orphan boys. Serious money problems forced the school to enroll fewer students, lay off staff and end a weekend residential program. Graves said that family concerns led to her decision to step down.

Dwan Cooper stood slumped against a whitewashed cinder-block wall, speaking in a voice that would have made a whisper sound like a shout from the highest mountain. His eyes were still red and the gentle heaves came every few seconds. A dozen minutes earlier, Cooper and his Girard College basketball teammates had been ousted from the PIAA Class A tournament by Holy Name, of Reading, in one of the most painful ways imaginable. The final score, in overtime, at Coatesville High in an intense, interesting quarterfinal was Holy Name 40, Girard College 39. It was Holy Name's only lead.

Tyrone Morris, who only nine months ago led Girard College to its first PIAA Class A state boys' basketball championship, has been dismissed as the Cavaliers' head coach just two games into the 2009-10 season. Sabrina Allen, Girard College athletic director, said Morris resigned in a meeting yesterday. Morris said he was fired. "I was asked to resign, and I didn't want to resign," Morris, 32, said. "Now I'm no longer the coach. I take that as being fired. " Said Allen: "He has resigned.

Now, this was much closer than expected. Many though Imhotep Charter's Martin Luther King Day game with Girard College would be a breeze. That's because the Panthers are The Inquirer's seventh-ranked team in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, are an unproven Class A squad. At least that was the thought before yesterday's nonleague game. Imhotep defeated Girard College, 56-48, at the Panthers' gym. The victory improved the Panthers to 15-1.

If an amendment to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association constitution is approved this summer, Girard College will become the first school from Philadelphia to join the PIAA. Girard College athletic director Bill Gallagher said the boarding school had initially applied for PIAA membership last spring after a futile attempt to align with a conference. PIAA District 1 chairman James Gallagher said he expected the amendment, which would permit Philadelphia schools to join the PIAA, to be approved by member schools, allowing Girard to join the association for the 1990-91 school year.

Squeezed between rising costs and a decline in income because of lower interest rates in the bond markets, Girard College has laid off 34 employees in what officials said is the largest round of layoffs at the privately endowed boarding school in 40 years. Twenty-five workers in maintenance, grounds, housekeeping and other support services were laid off Feb. 18, along with nine administrators. Three part- time music teachers also lost their positions, union officials said. Howard B. Maxwell, president of Girard, referred all questions to the board of directors of City Trusts, the public body that oversees the Girard Estate and 121 other city trust funds.

Richard J. Watson Age: 67 Where ya from? Born in Badin, N.C., but came to Philly at age 11 and grew up at 21st and Master. What do you do? Artist, musician and exhibitions manager and artist-in-residence at the African American Museum in Philly. Why did you move to Philadelphia? "At age 8, I moved with my aunt from North Carolina to Queens, N.Y., for three years. [His mother died when he was 3.] When I was 11, my father remarried, and we moved to Philadelphia. " Historic ties? Member of the Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters protesters at Girard College.

THEY ARE gray-haired now and approaching 70, but the Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters, who protested the all-white policies at Girard College nearly 50 years ago, are marching again. But the protest, this time, is against violence. "This march is going to remind people we still have to fight back and we have to show courage," Meldorn Shamlin, president of the Freedom Fighters, said this week. "We want to stop the crime and stop the killing of our children," said Shamlin, 68. "We're showing men they need to get out of the house and protect our kids.

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In a preview Friday of the state girls' basketball playoffs, it was incorrectly reported that Girard College had reached the second round of the 2012 state tournament. The school did not qualify for the tournament last year.

G'mrice Davis scored nine points through the first three quarters for Girard College, and the Cavaliers trailed by seven points entering the final period. Davis turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter, and it paid off. She scored 12 of Girard's 16 fourth-quarter points as the Cavaliers rallied to defeat Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg, 37-35, in the first round of the PIAA Class A girls' basketball tournament Saturday at Plymouth Whitemarsh. Davis, a junior, had 21 points, 12 rebounds, nine steals, and two blocks.

G'Mrice Davis knocked down four free throws in the final minute on Saturday to seal Girard College's 31-26 win over Jenkintown in the District 1 Class A girls' basketball final at Villanova's Pavilion. The junior guard/forward finished with a game-high 20 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, recorded three steals, and blocked one shot. Charnay Arrington and Jodi Marshall chipped in with five points each as Girard College coach John Brown led the Cavaliers to the title in his first season.

G'Mrice Davis knocked down four free throws in the final minute on Saturday to seal Girard College's 31-26 win over Jenkintown in the District 1 Class A girls' basketball final at Villanova's Pavilion. The junior guard/forward finished with a game-high 20 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, recorded three steals, and blocked one shot. Charnay Arrington and Jodi Marshall chipped in with five points each as Girard College coach John Brown led the Cavaliers to the title in his first season.

Emma Dorshimer sealed the win with four free throws in the fourth quarter Wednesday as top-seeded Jenkintown knocked off No. 4 Sacred Heart, 35-25, at Cheltenham in the District 1 Class A girls' basketball semifinals. The sophomore guard finished with a game-high 16 points and scored five of her points in the first quarter. Dorshimer was the Drakes' lone double-digit scorer. Emma Dillon added six points and Madison Kremp and Sarah Ross both scored four points. Neither team hit a three-pointer.