Brandon Walsh: Love One Another

Brandon Walsh graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1974 as the first Black student-athlete in Notre Dame tennis history. Walsh, who grew up in Jamaica, was voted the team’s unanimous captain his senior year. Walsh currently works as a Senior Account Executive for Canon Solutions America.

This installment of Signed, the Irish is part of a yearlong celebration in honor of Thompson’s legacy and the extraordinary contributions by our Black student-athletes.

I remember the day my parents accompanied me to the University of Notre Dame, having arrived from Kingston, Jamaica.  After walking around the campus and getting settled into my room at Keenan Hall, they drove me to the Rockne Memorial Center. I remember them driving away; I was 17 years old and on my own for the first time.  

I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and my family moved to Jamaica when I was three years old.  I didn’t know about the University of Notre Dame or the legacy of generations attending the University. Although I had no knowledge of Notre Dame specifically, my goal was to obtain a tennis scholarship at a university in the United States. This goal was formulated based on my achievements as a tennis player in Jamaica.  

I represented Jamaica playing tennis throughout the Caribbean as well as in Florida, at the International Orange Bowl Tournament. I was one of the top five junior tennis players in Jamaica winning tournaments in Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad; as well as a runner up in Puerto Rico. As a result of my achievements, I was nominated sportsman of the year in Jamaica. 

How did I end up at Notre Dame? My dad approached his Alma Mater, the University of Detroit, about a tennis scholarship. They however, did not have a tennis program. They referred him to Tom Fallon, the tennis coach at Notre Dame, and, as they say, the rest is history.

After sending my resume outlining my academics and the results of all my achievements from playing tennis, Tom Fallon offered me a partial scholarship to play tennis for the Fighting Irish. …and I would become the first Black tennis student athlete at Notre Dame.   

I moved into Keenan Hall where I would reside for all four years. I had lots of adjustments to make. Coming from the Caribbean and a tropical climate, I slowly got used to the snow and cold! Not to mention being thousands of miles away from home, and adjusting to a totally different culture. It was the 70’s and these weren’t the only adjustments I had to make. We were right in the midst of the Vietnam War and consequently there was political activity on campus. 

Jamaica is a predominantly Black country. Our National Motto is “Out of Many, One People.” This was evident in the many different ethnicities found in Jamaica.  Lebanese, Chinese, East Indians, to name a few. Growing up in Jamaica I had never experienced the Black and white issues that plagued the American culture at that time. This was totally new for me. 

I remember going to the cafeteria for the first time. I walked in and noticed that the Black students were sitting together and the white students were sitting together.  I was like “Whoa, I hadn’t seen that before. Welcome to America!” 

During my freshman year I had a white American roommate. I remember him telling me one day, “You’re not Black; you’re Jamaican.” He couldn’t differentiate between my race and the country where I grew up. My tennis teammates were white; however, this made no difference as I had a great relationship with them. They didn’t perceive me as Black; they saw me as a Jamaican. Even so, I identified as a Black student.

I had a foot in each world. I was with my white tennis teammates during the tennis season, but otherwise I socialized with the African-American students. I remember fondly Larry and Michael Parker and Tyrone Robinson, and I have remained friends with them since. I didn’t have issues with either group as I got along with everyone.

At the start of my senior year, I was unanimously voted captain of the tennis team.  A vote unlike which Coach Fallon said he had never seen. One of the traditions of the program was to feature a photo of that year’s captain on the cover of the media guide.

I was omitted — they didn’t put my picture on that year’s media guide. Coach Fallon was hurt that it had happened; I was completely unaware of the slight and shielded from it. Many years later at one of our tennis reunions, Coach Fallon told me about the media guide incident. “Did I really hear what he said?” I thought to myself. 

Sure enough, in 1997, Coach Fallon wrote it in his memoir, What Though the Odds: the Story of Notre Dame Tennis. There were his words, clear as day. The omission of my photo, he wrote, “was probably just indifference, but it smacked of blatant racism which certainly was not an ingredient of our tennis team.” Until reading about this in Coach Fallon’s book, I was totally oblivious to this. Since I had no idea about the incident and the implications, my experience at Notre Dame remained as positive as it could be. 

I’m Catholic; that’s one of the reasons I went to Notre Dame. I believe we are all created in the image and likeness of God. Whether we are Black or white or whatever other ethnicity, we are all people. It’s man who has created the racial divisions. It’s man who has created these labels. That’s not the teaching of Christ. Love one another as we love ourselves. That’s the teaching of Christ.

I thank Tom Fallon and the University of Notre Dame for offering me a scholarship and giving me the opportunity to graduate with a degree in Business Administration. I enjoyed my time at the University of Notre Dame and the lifetime friendships formed. I will always have fond memories of my time at Notre Dame.