Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center

Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center. . , The original Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center was dedicated in 1998 in memory of the late James Francis Thorpe of Yale, Oklahoma. In 2010, the facility was permanently relocated to this building. Today it houses offices of all American Indian, Hispanic, Asian American, and international student organizations. It is also home to disabled student organizations and diversity programs. , It was named for dim Thorpe, who was born on Sac-and-Fox Indian land near Prague, Oklahoma. His Indian name, Wa-Tho-Huk, is translated “Bright Path.” As a student at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, Thorpe excelled in every sport. His superior athletic ability was evident when he was named All-American in football in 1908 and again in 1912. , The greatest accomplishment of his athletic career came in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. He became the only athlete in Olympic history to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon in the same Olympic Games. Thorpe went on to play six years of professional baseball from 1913 to 1919 for the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Boston Braves. In 1915, Thorpe agreed to play professional football for the Canton Bulldogs, leading the team to three world championships. In 1920, Jim Thorpe was named the first president of the American Professional Football Association, now known as the National Football League. He ended his athletic career in 1928 with the Chicago Cardinals. James Francis Thorpe died in 1953. , Jim Thorpe was voted the greatest athlete during the first half of the 20th Century in 1950 by the Associated Press. Today, the Jim Thorpe Award is given for the best defensive back in college football and the Jim Thorpe Trophy for the National Football League's “Most Valuable Player.” The 106th Congress passed a resolution in 1999 recognizing Jim Thorpe as “America's Athlete of the Century.”